All Shook up
by missmoney101
Summary: Katie is a normal person who is trying to forget her troubled past...until she meets Bumblebee and the Autobots and has to escape the Decepticons who want the secrets from her past. My first transformers fanfic so please be nice! Rated T for swearing
1. Chapter 1

All shook up

**A.N. My friend Katie requested this story. This is for you Katie! G1 universe. P.S. This is my first Transformers fanfic so please be nice!**

The alarm clock began to screech and was subsequently pushed off the bedside cabinet. The lump in the bed next to it stirred, groaned and fell back down again. Half six was far too early to be getting up, the lump told itself. I'll wait another ten minutes before heaving my weary bones out of bed. One hour passed before the alarm clock blared again. This time, it was properly punched onto the floor. The duvet covers were thrown off and a bleary eyed teenager was revealed. Katie yawned and staggered to the bathroom. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she swore and grabbed the brush next to her. Beginning to attack the tangled jungle that was her hair, she paused when she heard voices downstairs. Running out of her apartment onto the landing, she saw Kate, the cranky old woman who lived next door with her cat Leonie arguing with the twin sisters (both annoyingly called Alex) about the noise they were making. **(A.N. Love you all ;D) **Katie sighed and went back into her apartment. She pulled on some clothes and plastered some foundation and mascara on her face before going into the kitchen and forcing some bread into the ancient toaster. Pouring herself a strong coffee, she waited for ten million years (which was actually five minutes) for the toast to pop up again. Slapping some butter on it, she crammed it in her mouth, chewed, swallowed and went back upstairs to clean her teeth. Forcing her feet into her shoes and grabbing her coat, she shut the door behind her and locked it. Dropping the keys into her pocket, she turned and came face to face with Kate. Leonie the cat slunk around her ankles and hissed at Katie.

"And where are you off to this fine morning?" Kate croaked.

"Work," Katie mumbled in reply. She tried to skirt around Kate but the old cow blocked her route the stairs.

"And where do you work?" she sneered. "Dressed like that, I'd have thought you would only work at night, when the gentlemen come calling…"

"Actually, I'm a waitress," Katie tried to keep her voice calm. "Now if you'll excuse me, the café opens in half an hour and I have to be there. Good day." Pushing past Kate, she ran lightly down the stairs and out the door. Once outside, she leant against the wall, fuming. _That bitch called me a prostitute! Right in front of me too! Well when I've got enough money, I'll be out of this place and I sure as hell won't miss it._ Starting off at a brisk pace, she walked in the direction of Café Olé. Passing a truck, she stopped at its unusual paint job. It was much brighter than the other trucks, bright red in fact, she saw and it has a weird symbol on its trailer. Next to it, a bright yellow VW Beetle was parked next to it and it too had the weird symbol. Backing away slightly, she checked her watch and swore. Turning on her heel, she marched away from the truck and car and began running to the bus stop. Had she stayed a little longer, she would have seen the truck turn to the car.

"_Bumblebee, follow her. I sense that there's something different about her and the Decepticons might want to exploit that,"_ it said in a deep baritone.

"_Sure thing, Prime," _the car replied and set off after the bus that was now pulling away from the side of the road.

Katie pushed the back door to the café open and walked inside. Slipping through a door marked _Employees Only_, she stood in front of the large desk and the larger man. Mr Davies leered at her until she turned her head away, embarrassed.

"You're on register duty today," he said. "If you're experiencing any problems, just come and ask me. Dismissed." Katie stood up and walked to the door, feeling him gazing at her as she went. She had been working here a long time but Mr Davies still encouraged her to come to him for help. She had a feeling that that wasn't all he was asking her for. Going up to the front desk, she logged into the computer and checked for any reservations. There was one at two thirty, a kid's birthday party. Katie smiled as she made a note of how many people were going and where they wanted to sit. Café Olé was similar to a restaurant, just smaller. Hearing the bell on the café entrance chime, she frowned and looked up.

"I'm sorry sir; the café isn't open at the mome-woah." Standing in front of her was a large, yellow, humanoid robot. He had the same insignia as the car and truck she saw earlier. After gaping at him for a few moments, Katie regained her voice.

"Who the fuck are you?" she gasped "_What _the fuck are you?" the robot seemed offended.

"Hey! My name is Bumblebee and I'm an Autobot. Pleased to meet you too."

"A…_what_?!"

"An Autobot. From Cybertron but now living on Earth. Optimus Prime sent me to get you. He says you have something about you that the Decepticons might want."

"Who?"

"Optimus Prime is our leader and…"

"There are _more _of you?" Katie couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yeah loads. There's me, Prime, Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet and Mirage to name a few. We're fighting against the Decepticons who want to take over Earth and the universe."

"And what are their names?"

"Why would you want to know? But the only names you really need to know are Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave. They are the leader, second and third in command of the Decepticons. You have to stay away from them. They're very dangerous and won't hesitate to kill you or use you as a hostage."

"I can be around who I want to be around," Katie said frostily. Bumblebee frowned slightly. 

"Just trust me; you don't want to meet any of those three in a dark alley at night, as you humans say. But anyway, you gotta come with me."

"What? Why? Hey! Let me go!" Katie demanded. Bumblebee had grabbed her fist and was pulling her out of the café.

"Just let me get my tape recorder first," she pleaded. "It was a gift from my dad."

"Alright," Bumblebee said, anxiously glancing at the sky as if he expected a Decepticon to come flying towards them at that moment. "But be quick."

Katie ran to her desk and grabbed the dark blue tape recorder and ran back to where Bumblebee was waiting.

"I'm ready," she said. "But I don't get why I have to go."

"It's for your own safety," Bumblebee said simply. He turned to her. "Let's go." Suddenly the smile on his face was replaced with a look of horror as he stared at the tape recorder. Katie looked at the electronic equipment.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We have to go. _Now. _And you gotta leave that thing behind!" Bumblebee's tone of voice had changed. He was now acting as if Katie had a ticking bomb in her hand.

"No way!" Katie snapped. "I told you, this was a present from my dad. The tape recorder comes."

"That's not a tape recorder," Bumblebee looked terrified.

"What? Then what is it?" Katie demanded.

"That's…that's Soundwave."

**A.N. So what did you guys think? Please read and review but no flames please! Like I said it's my first Transformers fanfic! I wish you all an awesome day!**


	2. Chapter 2

"What?" Katie stared down at the tape recorder in her hand. "You're telling me that the tape recorder my dad gave me is actually the third in command of the Decepticons?"

"Yes," Bumblebee's optics darted to and from Katie and the object she held. He stepped forward. "Give it here. Please. For your own safety." Katie looked at him for a long time before sighing and passing the tape recorder over. Bumblebee took it and hurled it at the wall.

"What the-?!" Katie yelled before Bumblebee grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door. Katie looked back at the café in time to see her tape recorder change into a large, dark blue robot with glowing red eyes and a face mask. Soundwave glared at the fleeing pair before pressing a button on his chest compartment.

"Laserbeak, Ravage: eject. Orders: detain the human and Autobot and bring the human to Megatron."

Bumblebee turned into an alleyway and Katie staggered after him. She bent over, panting.

"What…was…that?" she gasped. Bumblebee looked more serious than she had ever seen him.

"Soundwave has probably sent his cassettes after us," he said. "We have to keep moving."

"Are you crazy? I can't run anymore!"

"Then we'll drive," Bumblebee said simply. Katie's eyes widened as he transformed into the yellow Beetle she had seen earlier that day. The door opened.

"Hop in," Bumblebee said cheerfully. Katie pressed a hand to her forehead.

"This day is getting weirder and weirder," she muttered. In the distance, there was a sound of metallic cawing and snarling. Katie glanced over her shoulder and clambered into the car. Bumblebee revved his engine and took off at high speeds, narrowly avoiding the metal panther who swiped at him. Tyres squealing, Bumblebee set off for Autobot HQ.

"Go home Ravage!" he yelled at the Decepticon, who snarled in retaliation and gave Bumblebee the equivalent of the middle finger.

Optimus Prime was waiting in the entrance of the _Ark_ when Bumblebee and Katie arrived. She got out of the car, took one look at the Autobot Leader and the others behind him and promptly fainted.

"Ratchet, get her to the medical room," Prime ordered. "This has been very stressful for her. Bumblebee, you and I need to have a word about all this."

Katie groaned and her eyelids fluttered open. The first thing she saw was Ratchet hovering over her, holding some sharp looking instruments. She sat up immediately and gave him the evils. The medic raised his hands in surrender and put the instruments down.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Sore, confused," Katie counted on her fingers. "Tired, hungry, pissed off. I could go on for ages. What the fuck is going on?"

"Prime will explain," Ratchet turned away. "He asked to see you when you had woken up." The doors to the medical bay opened and Prime walked in. He sat down beside Katie's bed and considered her for a while.

"My name is Optimus Prime," he said. "What's yours?"

"Katie," the teenager replied sullenly.

"Welcome to Autobot headquarters," Prime stood up. "You've already met Bumblebee and Ratchet. May I introduce my second in command, Prowl, and my third in command, Jazz?" He gestured to two mechs who stood beside him.

"Wow," Katie muttered. "In just one day, I've met the leader, second and third in command of the Autobots and the third in command of the Decepticons."

"You encountered Soundwave?" Prowl peered at her. "How? The Decepticons don't usually pay attention to insignificant humans, especially not Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave."

"Hey! Watch who you're calling insignificant, sunshine!" Katie snapped.

"_Prowl_. I have nothing to do with Sunstreaker."

"That's enough Prowl," Prime scowled. "Can't you see that she's been through a lot? Bumblebee explained how she came into contact with Soundwave; he was posing as a gift from her father."

"Is there anything about you that the Decepticons might want to use to their advantage?" Jazz asked. "It must be pretty big if Soundwave was sent to observe you." Katie looked at the floor.

"I don't know," she lied.

"I see," Prime said gently. "Well if you do think of anything, then do not hesitate to tell us. However, it is obvious that the Decepticons are targeting you for their latest plot. You will have to remain with us for you own safety."

"What?" Katie yelled. "I can't stay with you! I have a job! I need to stay in my apartment or that bitchy old lady and her stupid cat will have me thrown out or those twins will nick everything in it!"

"I'm sorry," Prime said. "But your apartment and where you work is where the Decepticons will be waiting for you. If you want, I'll send Ironhide to go and collect your stuff."

"But…argh!" Katie screamed. She was fighting a losing battle and she knew it. "You win," she said sulkily. "But it doesn't mean that I like it."

Mr Davies strode out of his office. There had been a commotion out in the front of the café and seeing as that young waitress had been in charge at that moment in time, she would have to pay for any damage out of her wages…or in other ways. The pervert smiled to himself and pushed open the door to the café area.

"What the hell?" he yelled. A large, blue humanoid robot stood in front of him and in front of the robot, was a robot panther and a robot eagle. The two robotic animals were hanging their heads. The blue robot pressed a button on his chest.

"Mission status: failure," his voice was a deep monotone. "Laserbeak, Ravage: return." Mr Davies' eyes widened as Laserbeak and Ravage folded up into cassettes and flew into the robot with the monotone's chest. The robot then turned to him and surveyed him with glowing red eyes. Mr Davies backed away and fumbled for the door handle behind him. The robot looked at him coldly before pressing the button on his chest again.

"Ravage: eject. Orders: dispose," his voice betrayed no emotion. The panther sprung out of his chest and snarled at Mr Davies. The fat pervert's face paled.

"No! You can't! I'll pay you…" he begged. Those were the last things he said before Ravage's fangs sunk into his throat and severed his head from his body.

Katie was sitting on the edge of the bed in the medical room when the door opened once more. Jazz and Bumblebee walked in.

"You alright, sweetspark?" Jazz asked cheerfully. "Prime asked us to tell you what you have to stay away from cos they could easily be a Decepticon in disguise." Katie sighed in exasperation.

"Let's get this over with," she growled. "And afterwards, can we go shopping? I don't know what you lot eat but I'm presuming that it's inedible for humans and I kinda need to eat and drink to survive, you know?"

"Sure," Jazz shrugged. "Optimus said that we might need to take you. Bumblebee will drive you after I've finished, ok?"

"Deal," Katie shrugged. Bumblebee sighed in relief. That had gone much smoother than he had presumed.

"Right, first you cannot go anywhere near tape recorders, guns or F-15 Eagles," Jazz began. "Especially not if the tape recorder is dark blue, the gun is several shades of grey and the F-15 Eagle is silver, red and blue; those are Soundwave, Megatron and Starscream's alt modes. If you see this symbol on anything," he held up a piece of paper. "Find the nearest Autobot and get back to headquarters as fast as you can. Be careful of all planes, cassettes and the ocean; that is where the _Nemesis _(Decepticon HQ) is located. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Awesome! Now, enjoy your shopping trip."

Bumblebee turned the corner and waited for Katie to come out of the shop labelled 'Tesco'. When she finally came out, laden with shopping bags, he popped his boot open for her to put them in. After she'd heaved them into the boot and shut it, she climbed into the shotgun seat and Bumblebee set off.

"Any sign of any Decepticons?" he asked.

"No," Katie shook her head. "I stayed away from the cassette section though, in case Soundwave was there."

"Good," Bumblebee said. "Now back to the _Ark_. I think Prime wants to have a word with you." He revved his engine and turned the corner. Suddenly, he yelled out in terror and braked sharply. Katie was thrown forward. Her seatbelt saved her from flying through the windscreen but it chafed her neck.

"Ow!" she yelled. "What was that for? That really-!" She gasped.

Standing in front of them was…


	3. Chapter 3

…Leonie the cat. Katie looked at the cat, who had plonked her arse in the middle of the road, and scowled.

"You." she growled. She swore that that cat was out to ruin her life, along with her bitchy owner. She got out of Bumblebee, slammed the door shut and stalked towards Leonie, who smirked and licked her lips.

"No!" Bumblebee yelled, his voice hoarse with terror. "Get back! That's M…M…M…"

"…Leonie the cat," Katie informed him, but turned and walked back to him.

"Not the cat!" Bumblebee shivered. "M…M…_Megatron_! And Starscream too!" A ginormous shadow loomed over Leonie the cat. She looked up, yowled and scampered out of its reach, right before a giant foot crashed down on the ground.

"What is this puny creature?" Megatron asked, his voice laced with contempt.

"I believe it's called a 'cat'," Starscream informed him. The two Decepticons exchanged a look. Starscream's head turned so his optics were boring straight into Katie, while Megatron turned his attention to Leonie the cat, who was still yowling, her fur raised along her back and her ears flat against her head.

"Well, it's of no use to me," he growled. Turning his fusion canon on Leonie the cat, he powered it up. Katie gulped and closed her eyes. The deafening crash of the shot was followed immediately by Starscream's harsh laugh. Katie slowly opened her eyes again. Megatron had a smirk on his face and his Second in Command was laughing gleefully. Where Leonie the cat had been, there was just a scorched pavement beneath a smoking pile of ash. **(A.N. Sorry Leonie)**

"Oh my god!" Katie screamed. True, she'd hated the cat but she'd never wanted her shot by Megatron or anyone else for that matter. What was Kate going to say? Crap, crap, _crap! _Katie's mind was forced off Kate and Leonie the cat when Megatron addressed her and Starscream.

"Well Starscream, it appears that we've found our target. You can call the others off the search now. As for you, my _dear, _Soundwave has spoken very highly of your talent," Megatron said 'dear' as if it meant 'I am going to kill you in the most painful way possible.' Katie swallowed hard.

"Should I be offended or complimented by that?" she forced herself to sound calm and a little bit bored by the whole affair. Megatron blinked in surprise.

"It means you're good," Starscream said impatiently. "Very good. Possibly even one of the best…for a human," he added as an afterthought.

"Thanks," Katie muttered. Bumblebee transformed and stood in front of her protectively.

"You won't hurt her," he said boldly. "I won't let you." Megatron laughed.

"And how will_ you _stop me?" he sneered.

"Maybe he can't, but _I _can, Megatron!" a familiar voice called.

"Optimus Prime!" Megatron's optics narrowed. Prime readied his weapon, as did Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet and some other Autobots that Katie didn't recognise. Megatron took them all in and looked at his Second in Command for back up.

"It appears that we are heavily outnumbered," Starscream said in a bored voice. "May I suggest we retreat and live to fight another day?" Without waiting for an answer, he transformed into an F-15 Eagle and took off, the noise of the sheer _power _of his thrusters sending a shiver of delight through Katie, despite the current situation. Megatron glared at the Autobots and several of them stepped back uncertainly. His optics swivelled towards Katie and he smiled; a slow, sinister smile.

"We'll meet again, human," he turned and took off after Starscream. Katie sank slowly to the ground and Bumblebee put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" he asked quietly. Katie laughed humourlessly.

"In one day I have encountered the Autobots, the commanding officers of the Decepticons, been told that we are going to 'meet again' and watched them kill Leonie the cat! Would _you _be ok?!" Bumblebee took a step back.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I guess I wasn't thinking straight…"

"No," Katie suddenly felt guilty. "_I'm _sorry; I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, it's just this day has been so hectic and I'm still in shock and…ah shit…" Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed on the floor in her second faint of the day. Bumblebee picked up the unconscious human and turned to Prime for help.

"Autobots, return to base," Prime said. "Ironhide, go to Katie's flat and collect her stuff and we'll rendezvous back at the _Ark. _Bumblebee, take her to the medical room. We recently found her boss decapitated, probably by Ravage. We'll have to break the news to her gently and if she does faint again, then we won't have to transport her for a third time for a check-up."

Katie groaned and sat up in the medical bay. Ratchet frowned over at her.

"Are you going to keep on doing this?" he asked, not unkindly. Katie scowled.

"Well how would you react if everything that happened to me happened to you all in one day?" she challenged. Ratchet raised his hands in surrender.

"Alright, you've made your point," he checked a data pad that he was holding. "You seem to check out ok, so I guess I can release you."

"About time," Katie muttered as she swung her legs over the berth and hopped off. "Thanks," she added as she walked out the door. To her surprise, Bumblebee was waiting for her. He followed her as she walked down the corridor.

"I need to ask you something," he blurted out. Katie blinked in surprise.

"Ask away," she replied.

"What did Megatron mean earlier when he said about your 'special talent'?" Katie sighed. She knew that that was going to come up sooner or later.

"Promise not to tell _anyone_?" Bumblebee nodded. "I am…_was _a computer hacker," Katie confessed. "It started small, like most things. When I was 11, I hacked into Top Shop and caused a sale to happen. It just got bigger from then on, so computer companies like Apple and at one point, even NASA. My parents…encouraged me to keep on doing this. I knew I had to stop when I ended up hacking into the Pentagon. I told my parents I'd had enough and had to move out. They tried to stop me but couldn't. That's when Dad gave me Soundwave as a present," Katie looked guiltily up at Bumblebee.

"_That's _why the Decepticons want you," Bumblebee breathed. "We gotta tell Prime."

"No!" Katie yelled. "You can't! I moved out because I wanted to _forget _my hacking life, not relive it by telling someone! _I am not telling Optimus Prime!_"

"You don't have to," Prime stepped out of the shadows. "I heard every word."

"Shit," Katie muttered. Prime looked at her and his optics weren't angry.

"We now understand why the Decepticons want you," he said gently. "Recently an oil rig opened in Russia, all controlled by computers. Soundwave can't hack into it; the government would recognise his style. The Decepticons need someone the government will have never encountered before. Namely, they need _you. _You've seen how dangerous they are, so I'm sorry to tell you but you cannot leave the _Ark _without a guard."

"Worst day _ever_," Katie snarled. "Can I at least get some fresh air?" Prime considered for a moment.

"You can go within 500 metres of the _Ark _alone," he said finally. "That's the range of Red Alert's security cameras. But no further without a guard."

"Oh thank God," Katie breathed out in relief and ran out of the entrance to the _Ark. _All those hours in front of a computer screen had made her claustrophobic. She sat down on the grass and dangled her legs over the cliff. She didn't notice the shattered remains of a security camera, lying 10 metres from her. She inhaled slowly and exhaled, her hair blowing about in the wind. After about 15 minutes, she turned to go back into the _Ark_ when a pair of hands clamped roughly over her mouth and pulled her into the dark forest that lay behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Bumblebee paced the corridor of the _Ark, _muttering quietly to himself. Katie had been gone for almost 2 hours now and he was starting to get worried. It was obvious that she was claustrophobic but from what Ratchet had told him about the phobia, humans didn't need 2 hours to recover from him. He considered telling Optimus Prime but disregarded that; Prime (along with Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide, Hoist, Grapple and Ratchet) was still dealing with a hysterical Red Alert after one of his security cameras had been discovered, smashed to pieces. Red Alert, convinced that the Decepticons weregoing to storm the _Ark _at any moment, had begun to have the Cybertronian equivalent of a panic attack and there was still no sign of Katie. Bumblebee sighed and sank down against the wall.

"What's wrong Bumblebee?" a young, male voice suddenly piped.

"Wha-?" Bumblebee looked in the direction of the voice. "Oh hey Spike, hey Carly." He nodded at the two teenage humans.

"What's wrong?" Carly asked. "You look…stressed. Worried. Has something happened?"

"I don't know what's happened," Bumblebee replied. "That's why I'm worried."

"Tell us," Spike sat beside him and Carly followed suit. "As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved." Bumblebee looked puzzled.

"But surely-" he began.

"Never mind," Carly said hastily. "Just tell us what's happened."

"Well," Bumblebee closed his optics. "Today, Optimus Prime and I discovered a human and he told me to follow her and bring her back to HQ because he thought that she might have something about her that the Decepticons would want to use in their latest plot. So I did and I discovered that Soundwave had been sent to spy on her. We managed to give him the slip but Ravage killed her boss. After I brought her to HQ and Ratchet had given her a check up, we went out to some place called 'Tesco' and she bought some supplies. However, as we were returning, we ran into Megatron and Starscream and she had to watch them kill a cat she knew. After we got back to HQ, I asked her why the Decepticons would want her-"

"And why would they?" Carly interrupted, her eyes narrow. Bumblebee looked at her in surprise before remembering something Spike had told him; Carly was jealous of anyone (especially if they were female) who the Decepticons targeted because she herself was never targeted by them for her scientific skills.

"Um, because she's a computer hacker; one of the best in fact. The Decepticons want her because she could hack into the oil field that's been opened in Russia," Bumblebee continued.

"Why can't Soundwave do it?" Carly demanded.

"The government would recognise his style," Bumblebee replied. "As she confessed this to me, Optimus was listening. He told her about the oil field and that the Decepticons needed her because the government had never encountered her before and that she couldn't leave the _Ark _without a guard. After they negotiated for a bit, he told her that she could go out alone within 500 metres; the range of Red Alert's security cameras. She went out 2 hours ago and she hasn't been back since."

"Well serves her right if she _was _kidnapped by the Decepticons," Carly snapped and stalked out of the corridor. Bumblebee and Spike exchanged a look before Spike mumbled an apology and hurried after her. Bumblebee leant back and sighed. He felt that he had sort of become responsible for Katie…and it wasn't a bad feeling.

Soundwave entered the observation deck overlooking the medical room of the _Nemesis. _Hook and the other Constructicons were repairing the Deceptions who had been injured trying to access the oil field in Russia. Surprisingly, he saw Starscream there as well. He thought that the Second in Command would be in the computer room with Megatron, trying to find new ways of getting past the humans' primitive defences…that were actually proving quite challenging. Looking down, he saw Skywarp and Thundercracker lying on medical berths and a wave of understanding rushed through his processer. Starscream was ruthless, cold and sometimes treacherous but he did care about his trine mates, who were closer than brothers. Walking over to the Second in Command, Soundwave coughed slightly; he had noticed the humans doing it to attract attention to themselves. Starscream jumped about five feet.

"Frag! Don't _do _that Soundwave!" he hissed, placing a hand over his spark chamber; another habit picked up from the humans. "Why are you here?" he added. "I thought that you'd be with Megatron trying to find out how to get past those slagging defences."

"Likewise," Soundwave replied in his monotone. Quickly and silently, he analysed Starscream's tone of voice; there wasn't a hint of sarcasm in it so it seemed that the Second in Command wasn't going to be betraying Megatron this time. Starscream turned back to where Hook was tending to Skywarp's wing; it looked like it had been almost been torn clean off and it was charred and mangled. Starscream hissed for his injured trine-mate and unconsciously rubbed his own wing. Soundwave could understand why; the wings were the most sensitive part of a Seeker's body. Soundwave turned his head and looked at Thundercracker, who wasn't damaged as badly but who still had damaged his own wings and had almost had his arm melted off. Starscream's wings quivered as he surveyed the scene but whether it was from rage or pain Soundwave couldn't tell. From what he had managed to understand from Starscream and his troops (as Air Commander, Starscream was responsible for all the flyers, namely his own trine, the Coneheads and the Triple-Changers), the trine bond was similar to his own bond with his cassettes; if one or more was hurt then they all felt the pain, they all had each other's backs and if one was insulted then the rest would spring to their defence and the mech who had dared to insult them was usually left in the medical bay. Of course there were inner conflicts, there always were, but like a squabble between siblings, it never affected their loyalty to each other. Soundwave almost laughed at the irony; Starscream was loyal to the end towards his trine-mates but was only loyal towards Megatron, the more powerful one, when it suited him.

"Do you really think that this human female is what we need to break through those defences?" Starscream asked suddenly.

"Affirmative," Soundwave turned to face the Air Commander. To his surprise, Starscream looked weary but anger glistened in his optics.

"Well I hope to Primus that she does it soon," Starscream muttered, more to himself than to Soundwave. "I don't want to risk any more troops' lives and wings." Soundwave looked down again at the medical bay and saw that aside from Skywarp and Thundercracker there was Ramjet, Blitzwing and Thrust. Soundwave internally winced; that was over half of the Decepticon Air Force. Starscream leant forwards and growled as he received another flash of searing pain through the trine bond, this time from Thundercracker. Soundwave rested his hand on Starscream's shoulder; it was true that they weren't exactly the best of friends but neither of them liked to see the other in pain. The Second and Third in Command of the Decepticons exchanged a look (Soundwave's being a look of understanding and Starscream's being a look of thanks) before their comm. systems crackled into life.

::Rumble to base. Rumble to base. Frenzy and I have acquired what we need.::


	5. Chapter 5

Rumble sighed and leant back in his chair, seeing Frenzy do the same out of the corner of his optic. Astrotrain was flying over America at a comfortable pace; there was no need to rush seeing as the Autobots had no idea that their precious human was missing. Soundwave had sent Buzzsaw to spy on the Autobots and the Decepticons had overheard the human arguing with Optimus Prime about being allowed to go out of the Ark and he had agreed. Soundwave had immediately sent Rumble and Frenzy, along with Astrotrain for transport (the Seekers would have been preferable, seeing as they could blend in more than a space shuttle, but most of them were in the repair bay and Starscream was helping Megatron with some sciency things). Rumble had come up with the ingenious plan of wrecking Red Alert's security cameras which would allow them to kidnap the human in secret and by the time the Autobots had finished dealing with the paranoid Autobot, the Decepticons would be back at the _Nemesis _accessing the oil field with the human's help…not that she had much choice in the matter.

"ETA at the _Nemesis_, 14:00," Astrotrain's gravelly voice informed them over the radio.

"Excellent," Frenzy put his feet up. "Hey, can ya put some tunes on?"

"What?" Astrotrain was offended. "I am not some music player, unlike Soundwave. I am the most efficient Triple Changer, the only Decepticon who can travel in space and one of Megatron's most trusted troops!"

"So can you do it or not?" Rumble didn't care. Astrotrain grumbled for a bit. The cassette brothers ignored him.

"What would you like me to put on, oh honourable masters?" he asked eventually in a mock servile tone.

"Put some Maroon 5 on, they have some bitchin' tunes," came the human's muffled voice.

"Nobody asked _you_!" Astrotrain snapped. Rumble and Frenzy turned to look at the human, who was tied to another seat with a sack over her head. She shrugged as best she could, what with the ropes restraining her.

"Whatever asshole. You're just a fucktard," she retaliated.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

"An asshole…and a fucktard" the human had guts; you had to give her credit for that. Either that or she just had a death wish.

"Don't test me fleshbag. I could eradicate you so easily, I could be collecting 50 energon cubes at the same time."

"So are you putting on that music or what?" the human spoke with a bored air.

"Can't one of you shut her up?" Astrotrain snapped at Rumble and Frenzy.

"Lay one finger on me and I'll have you done for paedophilia," the human threatened. The two cassettes exchanged a look. Rumble nodded towards the human and, with a huge groan, Frenzy pulled himself out of his seat. Opening the supply kit at the back of Astrotrain, he took out a cloth and stalked over to the human. Whipping the sack off, he wrapped the cloth around her mouth, tied it tight and pulled the sack back over her head before settling down in his seat again. The human gave a cry of outrage which was followed by a stream of swear words. Fortunately, they were all muffled by the combined efforts of the cloth over her mouth and the sack over her head. Even so, Frenzy winced and Rumble had to turn his audio receptors off.

Bumblebee walked quietly into the control room of the _Ark_. Teletraan 1 was humming quietly, scanning for any Decepticon activities. They seemed to be keeping low, probably because many had been injured trying to access the oil field and, Bumblebee thought bitterly, because they had managed to kidnap Katie. He had gone outside after she had been gone for 3 hours and searched for her but because she hadn't appeared (and the fact that he had found footprints that matched the size and shape of the feet of a certain twoDecepticon cassettes) he had come to the conclusion that they had managed to kidnap her right out from under their noses. Holding his helm in his servos, he replayed the events leading up to Katie's abduction in his processor and cursed himself viciously for not accompanying her.

"It's not your fault," a voice came from behind him. "Nobody could have guessed that it would happen, what with all Red's security cameras and fancy defence systems."

"How do you know about that?" Bumblebee looked over at the mech standing next to him.

"Well, you told Spike, Spike told Chip and Chip told me," Wheeljack replied. "Have you told Prime yet?"

"He's been dealing with Red Alert," Bumblebee raised an optic ridge. "Would _you _have the chance to talk to him?"

"Good point," Wheeljack stood by the yellow mech. "She'll be fine," he added. "From what I've heard about her, she's tough. Those Decepticons won't know what hit 'em."

"Maybe…" Bumblebee wasn't convinced. "What if she refuses to hack the oil field though? You know what the Decepticons are like; they'll torture her until she does it and then they'll more than likely kill her." Teletraan 1 had informed them of the Decepticons' attempts to access the oil field and it seemed that half of their air force had been injured, which would make both Megatron and Starscream furious, especially the latter seeing as it was _his_ trine mates getting injured. And an angry Decepticon was always a more dangerous Decepticon and the more dangerous they were the higher up they were in rank. So any Autobot got the shivers when thinking of the two highest ranking Decepticons when they were angry. Wheeljack nodded but before he could speak again, the door to the control room opened and Optimus Prime, Prowl and Jazz entered.

"Man," Jazz sighed, throwing himself into the nearest chair. "Who knew it was so hard to calm Red Alert down?" Raising his helm, he saw everyone else in the room giving him perplexed looks.

"Okay, scratch that," he said. "But it's not as bad as everyone thinks it is, right?" The other mechs carried on staring at him until he raised his hands in surrender.

"Alright! It's slagging impossible, ok? We had to knock him out in the end!"

"Language, Jazz!" Prime scolded him. "Don't forget there are four humans in the _Ark_," He turned to Bumblebee. "Before I forget, where's Katie. We still need to break the news of her boss' death to her."

"Um," Bumblebee looked down. "I was going to tell you immediately, Optimus! But you were all so busy with Red Alert so I didn't get the opportunity…"

"Bumblebee, where is she?" Prime asked, a note of panic in his voice.

"I," Bumblebee raised uneasy optics to meet his leader's wide ones. "I think that she may have been abducted by the Decepticons, which is why Red's security cameras were sabotaged. I also…found footprints belonging to Rumble and Frenzy when I went out to look for her…" he trailed off. There was an awkward silence.

"Well, slag," Prowl broke the tension in the air and seemed to jerk Prime out of his frozen state.

"Right, here's the plan. Wheeljack, you, Perceptor and Teletraan 1 monitor the skies to see if there's any trail of the Decepticons. Prowl and Jazz, you two take a team of Autobots to try and follow the trail, if there is one, and if not then head to the _Nemesis_ which is most likely the Decepticons destination. I will assemble a strike force with the remaining Autobots, seeing as there is more than likely going to be a fight." The three Autobots sprang to their assigned tasks. As Prime turned to go, Bumblebee grabbed his arm.

"Optimus, I'm…" he began.

"It's not your fault, Bumblebee," Prime said gently. "None of us could have foreseen this. What matters now, is rescuing her." He patted Bumblebee's shoulder and strode out of the control room, readying his laser rifle. Bumblebee looked back at Wheeljack, who was barking orders for the Autobots to prepare to roll out into the tannoy system, and his fist clenched. One way or another, he _was _going to bring Katie back.


	6. Chapter 6

Bumblebee sighed and leant against a tree. He watched as Jazz knelt down beside Rumble and Frenzy's footprints and examined them before getting up again and calling Prowl and Ironhide over to look at them. Bumblebee sighed again and closed his optics; he just wanted to think for a moment, about Katie, whether she would hack the oil field with or without the Decepticons torturing her and what they would do her after she had surpassed her usefulness. It was highly unlikely that they'd let her go, seeing as she would know their plans and would tell the Autobots. Bumblebee hoped that if the Autobots didn't get to her in time that the Decepticons would keep her as a prisoner but Megatron was unpredictable, as was Starscream, and they could just kill her. Ironically, Bumblebee's hopes for Katie's life were placed in Soundwave. The Third in Command looked at the facts of things and would know that if the Decepticons kept her as a prisoner, then they could use her hacking skills to hack into other targets. Bumblebee was suddenly awoken from his thoughts by Brawn punching him (none too gently) in the shoulder.

"C'mon lover-boy," he grumbled. "We're moving; Wheeljack and Perceptor have found a faint trail belonging to Astrotrain. Let's go get your fragging human back."

"Hey!" Bumblebee scowled at him. "For one thing, she's not _my_human and another thing; I'm not in love with her!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," Brawn retaliated as they transformed and followed the others. "If you aren't in love, then why do you keep going all quiet and dreamy? Answer me _that_."

"I'm just thinking!"

"About her?"  
"Well yeah, but not in that way!"

"Then what _are_ you thinking about?"

"What the Decepticons are gonna do to her before and after she hacks the oil field."

"How do you know that she's gonna hack the oil field?"

"Come off it Brawn, these are the Decepticons we're talking about! She's not gonna have much choice is she?"

"…Good point."

"Are you two _quite _finished?" Ratchet's voice suddenly barked from behind them. Both mechs inadvertently squeaked. The medic continued.

"If we have any hope of finding the human, then we have to actually find the Decepticons who kidnapped her and determine their location before actually getting her back and just talking about it isn't going to do it for us! Now shut up and concentrate on the task at hand!" Brawn's tyres squealed and he shot off at such great a speed that he almost collided with Cliffjumper. He sped off again as the smaller mech cursed after him. Ratchet sighed in exasperation and Bumblebee could imagine him rolling his optics and shaking his head.

"Um, Ratchet?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear what Brawn said about me being…you know…?"

"Yes I did, and I agree with you; I don't think that you are. The feelings that you're probably experiencing at the moment are protective, like those of a guardian or a parent."

"Do you think I could become her guardian?" Bumblebee's hopes rose.

"Your spark is in the right place, you have a good personality for the job and she seems to like you better than the rest of us. So yes, I think you could." Bumblebee's optics lit up, even though Ratchet couldn't see them. He was about to ask more questions when the comm. system crackled into life.

::Attention Autobots,:: Prime's voice boomed. ::Teletraan 1 has confirmed that the Decepticons are heading for the _Nemesis_. We shall all rendezvous there and rescue the human, although there will more than likely be a fight.:: The Autobots turned in the direction to the _Nemesis_ and set off at top speed.

"Come on Autobots!" Prowl yelled. "Let's show those Decepticons what happens when they kidnap one of our humans. We're gonna so hard on them, they won't know what hit 'em!"  
"Bow Chicka Bow Wow!" Jazz sniggered. Everyone screeched to a halt and looked at him in a weird way.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I have no idea where that came from…"

_In another time…_

"It's not my fault she always goes for my dick!" Grif snapped.

"Heh!" Tucker smirked. "Let's teach those 'Cons a lesson!" Everyone stared at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"The Blue's gone nuts!" Sarge yelled. "Red Team, retreat before we catch it! But leave Grif here so he gets it and I get to put him down…with my SHOTGUN!"

"Sarge, I doubt it's contagious and it's not like it's rabies," Washington rolled his eyes. "But Tucker, where the fuck did that come from? I thought you said 'Bow Chicka Bow Wow'?"

"I do!" Tucker said miserably.

"It's probably Karma," Simmons advised.

"Yeah…" Tucker hung his head.

"Or maybe in another time someone else was saying something at the exact same time as Tucker and the universe accidentally mixed their speech up!" Caboose suggested.

"Yeah…that's highly unlikely," Washington disregarded it, along with everyone else. "Now may I suggest we duck?" he added, as the Red Team had started chucking grenades at them and Grif was getting into the Warthog and starting up the engine and the music to run them over.

_Back to the Autobots and Decepticons_

Megatron waited in the control room of the _Nemesis _along with Starscream and Soundwave. Rumble had informed them that they had acquired the human and that he, Frenzy and Astrotrain were bringing her in and their ETA was 14:00. Megatron looked at the clock on the main computer; 14:23. His optics narrowed and Starscream and Soundwave slowly took a step back. At that moment, Frenzy's voice was heard over the comm. system and he sounded very sick.

::Urrgh…permission to enter the _Nemesis_? Oh slag…::

::It took you long enough,:: Megatron grumbled and pressed the button which would allow them to enter the _Nemesis_. The tramping of feet sounded on the floor and got closer to the control room until the door opened and Astrotrain, Rumble, Frenzy and the human entered, all looking a little worse for wear.

"What the slag happened?" Starscream exclaimed. Frenzy glared at Astrotrain.

"_Someone _had the brilliant idea of going via the oil field in Russia!" he snapped. Megatron growled, Starscream face-palmed and Soundwave shook his head.

"We spent almost half an Earth hour dodging lasers and stuff," Rumble continued.

"I thought I could access it from the air and with the element of surprise!" Astrotrain protested. The human mumbled something into the cloth over her mouth. So that the others could hear what she said, Rumble untied it and pulled it off.

"Brilliant plan, dumbass," the human translated. "That _totally _worked."

"Do not question my tactics, femme!" Astrotrain snarled. "Or I shall obliterate you!"

"Astrotrain! Stand down!" Megatron bellowed. "You cannot harm the human until she has hacked into the oil field. If you do so before then, you'll have to answer to _me_! _Do I make myself clear?!_" Astrotrain nodded meekly.

"Yes Lord Megatron," he mumbled. Megatron waved a hand.

"Dismissed," he addressed all three mechs. Astrotrain strode over to Starscream who started murmuring quietly to him, undoubtedly telling him about the stupidity of his plan and the location of Blitzwing.

"Rumble, Frenzy: Return," Soundwave stated and pressed the button on his chest and the two cassettes transformed and entered it. Astrotrain walked out of the room in the direction of the medical bay. Megatron turned his optics to the human who stood in front of him with her hands tied behind her and her arms tied to her torso but who was still looking as if she was incredibly bored.

"Welcome to the _Nemesis_," Megatron began. "I am Lord Megatron, the Leader of the Decepticons. This is Starscream, Air Commander and Second in Command and this is Soundwave, Communications Officer and Third in Command. You will be staying with us for quite some time."

"Who did your interior decorating?" the human asked, unfazed. "It's kinda dull. The _Ark _is the same only it's brighter. I know a guy who could paint it up for you; he did the walls in my flat for free though I suspect he may be a paedo." There was an awkward silence.

"We've never had that reaction before," Starscream mused. "Normally people start screaming and trying to run away. They've never started talking about interior decorating and paedos."

"I got past the screaming and running away stage after I watched you kill Leonie the cat," the human replied frostily.

"Soundwave," Megatron interrupted. "Show the human how to work the computer and tell her what she has to do and then report back to me. I am going to recharge." He strode out the room.

"Affirmative," Soundwave replied.

"I think I'm going to check on Thundercracker and Skywarp," Starscream announced. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but I'm starting to miss those idiots." He walked through the door and began walking towards the medical room. Katie looked over at Soundwave.

"Thundercracker and Skywarp?"

"Trine mates," Soundwave replied in his monotone. "Similar to brothers," he added at the human's perplexed look.

"Right," the human muttered. Soundwave directed her to the computer room before untying her. The human rubbed her sore wrists and muttered to herself about the tightness of the ropes and how they chaffed when you had to sit in a plane that had to dart around lasers firing at it. Soundwave indicated the main computer that was attached to a human sized laptop.

"Orders: Hack into the oil field and disable the lasers," he began. "Then use the following instructions to convert the oil into energon cubes," he handed her a piece of paper with the instructions written out. "Finally, disable the barriers so that airborne troops can collect the energon."

"Not giving me much to do then, are you?" the human replied sarcastically. Soundwave looked at her and raised an optic ridge.

"Query: Is the task too complicated?" he asked. Katie laughed.

"Nah, piece of cake. When I was 15, I hacked into the Pentagon and NASA and I've only just turned 16. This is going to take no time at all."

**A.N. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favourited this story! It really means a lot to me. Sorry about the Red vs. Blue bit; I just had to. I blame Sigma. Thank you to everyone who has made suggestions; I consulted with my friend Katie (who this story is for and who the main character is based on) and she wanted me to do Bumblebee101's suggestion where Bumblebee becomes Katie's guardian. Thank you all so much! This story wouldn't exist without you!**


	7. Chapter 7

Katie cracked her fingers and wriggled them. Soundwave waited behind her, as silent as ever. Glancing over her shoulder at him, Katie shivered (crap, he was creepy) and turned the laptop on. Looking up, she saw the display enlarged on the main computer. Sighing, she turned back to the laptop and typed in the web address for the oil field in Russia. Clicking on the link to the government's official website, she smiled.

"Show time," she muttered. She lay back in her chair and thought for a couple of minutes until Soundwave became impatient.

"Query: Why is delay taking so long?"

"Wha-? Oh, just thinking which technique would be best for getting into the oil field," Katie answered. "I've decided now; I'm gonna use a rootkit." Turning back to the laptop, she typed in a couple of commands and several information boxes popped up. Selecting the one labelled 'Administrative Tools', she highlighted several tools and right clicked on one. Typing in the modifying code that she had learned from one of her fellow hackers years ago, she changed it so that it would allow root access to the laser defence system. All of a sudden, a warning box popped up and she hissed through her teeth and whirled round to look at Soundwave, who was still watching her.

"I'm gonna need a calculator to find the right combination to counteract the firewall," she informed him. Soundwave sighed and the screen on his chest turned blank.

"Method: State orders and await answers," he replied. Katie frowned for a second before returning to the computer screen. Her eyes scanned the firewall and she scribbled down some notes in the notebox she had opened. After a while, she turned back to Soundwave.

"What is the square root to the power of 29 of the trigonometric amplitude of 87 divided the quantitative hydraxis of 956 to the power of 77?" she asked. Soundwave tilted his head, as if surprised that a human knew such advanced mathematics before he answered.

"45969," he answered, his monotone as expressionless as ever.

"Thanks," Katie typed in the answer and smirked as the warning box flickered and disappeared. A black box appeared in its place. Katie rolled her neck and began typing in commands so fast, Soundwave's processor began to hurt. He was also impressed; the human's hacking skills rivalled only his and he was the best hacker in the business. At that point all thoughts of having the human killed (by either feeding her to Ravage or letting Rumble and Frenzy deal with her) vanished. She was much more useful to the Decepticons alive. Slag, she could hack any targets that they wanted her to…that is, the targets that he himself couldn't hack because it would mean detection. Soundwave's attention was jerked back to the current target when the human let out a sigh and sank back into her seat.

"That's the lasers all under Decepticon control," she said, and there was a hint of bitterness in her voice. "What am I supposed to do with them?" Soundwave thought for a moment before comming Megatron.

::She's hacked the lasers already?:: he sounded surprised and a little bit impressed. ::Impressive…for a human. Have her make them destroy the other defences that have been threatening the troops.::

::Affirmative.:: Soundwave replied and relayed the orders to the human. She scowled.

"Well how should I know what other defences there are?" she snapped. "It's not like I've been there; only when I was inside Atstro-son-of-a-bitch-train and I was tied to the seat then with a fucking sack over my head so I couldn't see." Soundwave waited patiently for her rant to end and then pressed the all too familiar button on his chest.

"Laserbeak: Eject but do not transform," he ordered. Laserbeak complied and Soundwave slotted him into a side computer. The aerial video of the oil field played so the human could see all the tanks, missiles, military jets and the other defences that the Russians had placed in their oil field. Katie considered them for a moment.

"Can you get up a map of the oil field and keep that image up so that I know where everything is and direct the lasers?" she asked and added under her breath. "And contact the Autobots?"

Optimus Prime screeched to a halt, causing the other Autobots behind him to do the same.

"What's wrong Prime?" Wheeljack asked.

"Listen to the comm. systems," Prime answered. The others around him complied and simultaneously gasped as they all heard the tapping noise.

"Perceptor?" Prime asked. Perceptor stood and considered for a moment. "I believe that we a receiving one of the humans' ways of secret communication," he said eventually. "I think that this one is known as 'Morse Code'."

"It must be from Katie," Prime concluded. "She has somehow managed to contact us from the _Nemesis_. Can you translate it Perceptor."

"I'm doing so at the moment," Perceptor screwed his optics up in concentration and began translating aloud for the benefit of the others. "Forced…to…hack…oil…field…In…computer…room…of…_Nemesis_." he smiled suddenly. "Hurry…up…you…bastards."

Katie stopped tapping her Morse Code message and looked up as Soundwave handed her the map of the oil field.

"Query: What was you activity just then?" he looked at her.

"Just preparing the next part of the rootkit so I can start to prepare your goddamn energon cubes," she lied quickly; in reality she had done that at the same time as she had done the lasers. Soundwave nodded once and Katie looked down at the maps. Typing commands into the laptop, she sat back and looked at the Third in Command.

"All tanks, missiles, etc. getting blown sky high," she informed him. "And at the same time, the barriers are being disabled. It was easier to do them both at the same time." Soundwave nodded again and she turned back to the computer screen. "I prefer working in here to working in my room," she continued. "More space. You don't get as claustrophobic, if you know what I mean?"

"Statement: Seekers still experience claustrophobia," Soundwave folded his arms and leant against the wall.

"Yeah, but I'm not a Seeker, am I?"

"…Affirmative."

"Very impressive human," Megatron looked down at the teenager, who was lying back in the chair, flexing her fingers and looking exhausted. "You have managed to disable the barriers, get control of the defences _and_ created over 200 energon cubes (and the number continues rising) in just over three and one half Earth hours."

"Like I said, it was a piece of cake," the human responded sleepily. Megatron looked round at the mechs that surrounded him; the Stunticons, Soundwave, Rumble, Frenzy, the Triple Changers, Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream.

"I think that the human has proved her worth, don't you?" he asked his troops. They all nodded (even Astrotrain who looked as if he was chewing on something incredibly sour). "As a reward, we will grant her her life," Megatron continued. "However, you won't be leaving the _Nemesis_. You would go straight to the Autobots and tell them everything, and we can't have that can we?" Megatron was interrupted by Blitzwing, who was sitting at a computer monitor, swearing loudly in Cybertronian.

"Translation?" Katie looked over at Soundwave.

"Negative," Soundwave answered, though Rumble and Frenzy looked amused. Megatron strode over to Blitzwing.

"Is there a reason that you used such language in my company, Blitzwing?" he asked softly, making him sound much more dangerous. "It had better be a good one, for your sake…"

"I apologise profusely Lord Megatron," Blitzwing squeaked, making Rumble, Frenzy and Katie all grin evilly. "But something has come up on the monitor." Megatron looked over at the screen and his optics darkened. Everyone immediately rushed over to look at what the problem was. Katie couldn't help letting out an excited squeak when she saw a familiar, yellow shape.


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, it seems the Autobots have located their precious human," Megatron's lip curled and he surveyed the human beneath him and his troops around him.

"We shall assemble a strike force that shall terminate the Autobots once and for all!" he barked. "Astrotrain, Blitzwing, you two will go to Russia to collect the energon cubes the human has so _kindly_ created for us."

"Not that I had much choice in the matter," Katie muttered. Rumble elbowed her sharply and she stamped on his foot in retaliation.

"Yes Lord Megatron," the Triple Changers said in unison. Astrotrain glowered at Katie, who gave him the middle finger.

"Stunticons, you shall remain here to guard the _Nemesis _in case the Autobots try to storm it," Megatron continued. "Decepticons, prepare for battle!" The remaining Decepticons immediately hurried out the room and towards their quarters to prepare their weapons.

"Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw: Eject," Soundwave ordered and his cassettes sprang out of his chest compartment and stood next to Rumble and Frenzy. Soundwave nodded to Megatron and strode out the room, his cassettes by his heels. Megatron turned to his Second in Command, who was still remaining in the room despite Thundercracker and Skywarp's departure.

"Yes Starscream?"

"As you know, the Autobots are here to collect the human," Starscream pointed out. "What will she be doing whilst we are fighting? She's an excellent computer hacker (for a human) and could easily turn our weapons against us or allow the Autobots to enter the _Nemesis _without any hindrances."

"You raise a good point Starscream," Megatron considered the human, who was watching the two Decepticons warily. "And the Autobots are such sentimental fools; they never harm humans, even if it means losing the battle. This human is becoming more useful by the minute." Katie took a step back.

"What's your plan?" Starscream asked, an evil glint in his optic. Megatron turned towards Katie, who had backed up against the wall and was pressing herself to it.

"Tell me my dear, how do you do feel about flying?"

Bumblebee stopped and transformed, along with the other Autobots in the group. Prime was waiting for them along with the other Autobots who hadn't come with them on their tracking mission, all except Red Alert, who Prime said was 'resting in the medical bay'. Bumblebee turned and looked out at the ocean. Somewhere, deep beneath the surface, was the _Nemesis _and somewhere on the _Nemesis _was Katie. Prime turned to his troops.

"Autobots, you know why we are here. We have to retrieve the human and stop the Decepticons from accessing the oil field in Russia. This may be our hardest battle yet; we are fighting on their turf and they can send more troops in if need be whereas we can't. Megatron will want to make the first move so only start firing when you see the Decepticons. While we are distracting them, Powerglide and Bumblebee will enter the _Nemesis _to rescue the human. I want you all to know that I have absolute faith in your abilities to win this battle."

"So what do we do in the meantime, Prime?" Prowl asked.

"We wait.

"How did I get dragged into _this _shit?" Katie gasped, trying to free her hand from Starscream's servo. The Second in Command had a very tight grip.

"Stop whining human," he rolled his optics and carried on walking. They entered a hangar where Thundercracker, Skywarp, Rumble and Frenzy were waiting. Frenzy waved sarcastically and Rumble folded his arms and smirked. Katie turned to Starscream for support, only to find that in his place was a red, blue and silver F-15 Eagle. The cockpit roof opened and Rumble and Frenzy (who Katie hadn't seen sneak up behind her) grabbed her arms and pulled her into in. Rumble forced her down into the seat and held her there while Frenzy wound ropes around her body and the seat, tethering her.

"What are _these _for?" she snarled, trying to writhe away but Rumble had a very firm hold.

"One: to keep you there so you don't mess with my flight control or any of my other circuits and two: as a 'seatbelt' as you humans call it," Starscream's voice answered her.

"I'm so glad that you care about my personal well being," Katie retorted sarcastically.

"Starscream's the fastest Seeker ever created," Thundercracker informed her, as he and Skywarp transformed into two more F-15 Eagles, one blue and orange and the other black and purple. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to go flying out of him."

"I'll pass on that one," Katie shuddered.

::All Decepticons, get ready to engage,:: Megatron's voice sounded over the comm. Frenzy finished tying the knot he was on and he and Rumble clambered out of Starscream's cockpit. They waved to Katie as the roof closed and she flicked her middle finger up at them. Starscream's engines began to hum quietly, slowly increasing in volume until they became a full blown roar. Katie shivered slightly; she had once heard a Spitfire's engines, which people said were the best sounding engines in the world, and the noise emitting from Starscream's engines was just as powerful. Looking over at Thundercracker and Skywarp, she saw that they had arranged themselves behind Starscream in a triangle formation. The door to the hangar opened again and Megatron entered, followed by Soundwave and his cassettes, the Constructicons, the Triple Changers and three other Decepticons that she didn't recognise, who had triangular shaped heads.

"Heh, Coneheads," she snickered.

"Correct," Starscream answered.

"What?"

"Thrust, Ramjet and Dirge are the Coneheads. Another kind of Seeker," Starscream informed her.

"_Coneheads_. What a gay name," Katie muttered. Starscream didn't answer though; Megatron had started speaking.

"Decepticons, in a moment we are going to go into battle. Triple Changers, you wait for five Earth minutes before flying to Russia to collect the energon cubes. Constructicons, be prepared to merge into Devastator at any point in the battle. Thrust! Dirge! Ramjet! Why have you not transformed?!"

"Forgive us Lord Megatron," Ramjet gulped. Running up beside the Command Trine, he and his trine mates transformed into a type of military jet that Katie didn't recognise. Megatron strode out in front of his troops and swung the arm that had his fusion cannon back and forth. All of a sudden, Katie had the feeling that they were slowly rising, but when she looked out of Starscream's cockpit, they were all still on the ground. When the feeling finally stopped, she saw a door on the other side open and daylight flooded into the hangar. There was a tense silence and Katie heard the Seekers' engines quieten down.

"Decepticons, ATTACK!" Megatron roared suddenly. He flew out of the hangar firing his fusion cannon, undoubtedly at the Autobots below. Starscream's engines roared; as did those of the other Seekers, and he shot out through the door, at a speed Katie didn't even think was possible to achieve before know. She briefly heard the sound of gunfire before a loud bang drowned out all other sounds. Straining her head around, to see what had caused it before it was gone, she saw the remains of a sonic boom.

"How…fast…are…we…going…?" she struggled to form the words.

"Not very, even though it's increasing all the time," Starscream sounded amused. "I'm barely up to half my full speed."

"Craaaaaaaaaap!" she shrieked as he went into a sudden dive to avoid the shots being fired at him. Twisting his body in graceful manoeuvres, which were fortunately not as fast as his dives, while simultaneously attacking the Autobots, she had time to see Megatron and Optimus Prime exchanging ferocious blows, Rumble and Frenzy activating their piledrivers and causing the ground to crumble beneath the Autobots, Prowl and Jazz shooting at Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, Skywarp materialising in different places to the shots that were being fired at him, Thundercracker dive-bombing a group of Autobots she didn't recognise, Ratchet hurriedly tending to the wounded, the Coneheads firing on everybody, friend or foe, the Constructicons merging to form Devastator and trying to stamp on the Autobots shooting at him, Soundwave and another Autobot fighting, Starscream himself shooting, and injuring, more Autobots, and holy shit, Bumblebee and Ravage wrestling. Had she not been tied to the chair, Katie would have manually forced Starscream away from the group of Autobots he was intent on destroying and caused him to fire on Ravage. As it happened, she couldn't so all she could do was watch helplessly from the Decepticon Air Commander's cockpit.

Bumblebee heaved Ravage off of himself, grabbed the panther by the tail and flung him into Rumble and Frenzy. The cassette brothers immediately began swearing viciously and tried to haul Ravage off of them, with Ravage himself snapping at them and trying to scratch them so he could get off himself. Two explosions were followed by the sound of Prowl and Jazz cheering. Looking over, he saw Laserbeak and Buzzsaw crash into the side of the cliff. Smiling, he turned and readied his rifle to begin firing at Starscream, who had already seriously injured Cliffjumper, Brawn, Powerglide, Gears and Wheeljack, and had somehow managed to deactivate Huffer. He was about to fire straight into the Decepticon Second's afterburners when he saw a familiar face in the cockpit, drained off all colour and looking very unwell as the Air Commander dodged the shots fired at him with great speed and ease.

"_Slag_!" Bumblebee muttered bitterly and ran off to find Prime. The Autobot Leader punched Megatron away from him and into Ramjet, who was attempting to ram Prime. Bumblebee tugged on his leader's arm.

"Optimus!" he gasped.

"What is it Bumblebee?"

"Look who the Decepticons have brought!" Bumblebee pointed towards Starscream's cockpit. Prime squinted so he could see better and his optics widened in alarm.

::Autobots! Cease all fire directed towards Starscream! The human is inside his cockpit.:: he ordered over the comm. systems. A harsh laugh made them turn back towards Megatron, who was currently being helped up by Soundwave.

"Your pathetic concern towards humans will be your downfall Prime!" he laughed. "Why else do you think I involved the human in the battle?" Prime's optics narrowed and he looked back towards Starscream, who had been joined by Thundercracker and Skywarp and who were mercilessly attacking anyone in their path in perfect formation. Inside Starscream's cockpit, Katie had her eyes closed and her face was grey, probably because of the speeds that she was experiencing. Prime sighed. His only option was cruel and it wasn't honourable but it was the only way left to get Katie back.

"Autobots!" he called. "Shoot Thundercracker and Skywarp."

"WHAT?!" Megatron bellowed. Soundwave didn't say anything but you could tell his feelings on the subject. The Coneheads, who were nearby, shrieked and clutched one another as they looked in horror at the Command Trine who were undergoing heavy fire, but none of it directed at Starscream. Prime hung his head.

"It was my only option left," he whispered so that Bumblebee was the only one who could hear him. Bumblebee nodded sadly; he understood why Optimus had ordered what he had. Shooting Thundercracker and Skywarp would affect Starscream through the Trine Bond which would allow the Autobots to retrieve Katie without hurting her. Thundercracker was the first to go. A well placed shot from Ironhide hit him right in the afterburners and sent him plummeting down. Even from where he was, Bumblebee could hear Skywarp and Starscream screaming Thundercracker's name. The remaining Decepticons were viciously attacking the Autobots but to no avail; the shots were still being rained down upon Skywarp until eventually his left wing exploded and he followed his Trine Mate down. The shriek of pain and fury that came from Starscream dug deep into each mech's spark. The Air Commander faltered for a moment before diving at the Autobots in one last attempt. So great was his speed that most of them didn't even realise what was happening until he was right on top of them…literally. Starscream lay motionless on top of both the wounded and the fit (who then became wounded). Katie lay slumped over the flight controls; the impact must have knocked both her and Starscream out. A snarl from Megatron jerked Bumblebee's attention back to where the Decepticon Leader and his Third in Command were glowering at Prime. Megatron was saying something but Bumblebee wasn't listening. Looking down over the side of the cliff, he saw Bonecrusher and the Coneheads retrieving Thundercracker and Skywarp and transporting them back to the _Nemesis_. Both the injured Seekers seemed to unconscious. Bumblebee turned his attention back to where the rest of the Constructicons were extracting Starscream from off of on top of the Autobots, aided by Soundwave's cassettes. Frenzy opened the Second in Command's cockpit and hauled Katie out and passed her onto his brother. Rumble slung the unconscious teenager over his shoulder and stalked over to Bumblebee.

"Here's your human. I hope you're happy," he snarled, shoving her at him and stalked back to where the Constructicons had managed to haul Starscream's frame off of the Autobots beneath him.

"Rest assured, Prime, you _will _pay for this," Megatron's voice caused Bumblebee to pause and look up from unravelling the remainder of the ropes from Katie's body. Megatron and Soundwave strode over to Starscream; the Constructicons had transformed him manually. Hauling him up, Megatron slung one of Starscream's limp arms over his shoulder and Soundwave did the same on the other side.

"Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw: Return," for the first time, Soundwave's monotone shook a little in anger. Pausing to glare at the Autobots, the Decepticon Leader and Third in Command turned in the direction of the _Nemesis _and took off, carrying the unconscious Air Commander with them, the Constructicons close behind them. Once they had gone, Katie's eyelids flickered and she groaned. Opening her eyes properly, she took in the Autobots around her, felt her forehead, which was slightly sticky with blood from a cut, and sat up.

"I am _never _going flying again," she muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

Katie was silent during the ride back to the _Ark_. Many times Bumblebee tried to pluck up the courage to ask her a question but decided against it every time. Finally, as they were nearing Autobot HQ, he spoke up.

"The Decepticons, did they…er…hurt you at all?"

"Wha-?" the question seemed to jerk Katie out of her dreamlike state. "Oh, no they didn't. Astrotrain (why didn't you lot warn me that he was such a wanker?) kept threatening to annihilate me but he never went through with it. Probably because Megatron threatened to terminate _him _if he tried. Heh," she smirked to herself as she remembered the look on Astrotrain's face.

"So you're ok then?" Bumblebee sighed in relief.

"Apart from feeling incredibly sick, yeah," Katie leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. There were a few more minutes of silence before Bumblebee spoke again.

"You gave me…I mean us, quite a scare you know,"

"It gave me quite a scare too. There I was sitting down with my legs dangling over the cliff, next thing I know there's a sack over my head, I'm tied to a chair and Astrotrain is taking off. Don't tell me you were worried about me?" her lips curved up into a smile.

"I…er…" Bumblebee was lost for words. "Frantic," he said eventually. Katie smiled again and opened her eyes.

"I'm guessing this means that I can't ever go back to my apartment?" she asked.

"Sorry," Bumblebee sighed again. "The Decepticons are probably blowing it apart as we speak." Katie also sighed.

"Oh well, it was only temporary. What about the café, where this all started?"

"We don't know. The thing is, we, er, found your boss. His head had been ripped off by Ravage. Sorry."

"Don't be. The guy was a huge pervert. He was always gonna rape me. But the question remains, where am I gonna go now?" her shoulders slumped. Bumblebee took a deep breath. _Now or never_.

"On Cybertron, the younger mechs and femmes who were either homeless, had lost their family or both, were assigned an older mech or femme to be their guardian. It's never been done with a human before, but I thought…that maybe you'd…" Bumblebee's voice trailed away. "It would have to be cleared with Prime first if you _did _want to," he mumbled. Katie smiled for the third time.

"I'd like that," she said softly. "I'd like that a lot."

"This has never been done before with a human," Prime reminded them. "And it runs a huge risk of not working. Do you want to take that risk?" Katie stared straight at him, her jaw set.

"I have nowhere else to go," she reminded him. "The Decepticons will be destroying my apartment and possibly the café right now. I'm prepared to take that risk." Prime looked at Bumblebee.

"This is a huge responsibility," he said gently. "Remember Bumblebee, you're not that old yourself."  
"I know Prime," Bumblebee looked at his leader. "And I'm willing to do it."

"Very well," Prime said. "I'll have Prowl allocate some quarters to you. Ironhide managed to collect some of your belongings from your apartment before its destruction so they can be placed in there. Bumblebee, I believe that you are on monitor duty next and Katie, you may hit the rec. room." Before they parted their separate ways, Bumblebee started muttering in Katie's ear.

"The Aerialbots will probably be there and they will be quite hostile towards you because you're a human, but just mention that you rode inside Starscream and they will love you. Spike, Carly, Chip and possibly Sparkplug may be there too; they're the other humans who hang out at the _Ark_." Katie smiled as a sudden realisation came to her.

"But none of them actually _live_ on the _Ark_, do they?"

Katie strolled into the rec. room. There weren't many in there, just Hoist, Grapple and Red Alert in one corner, a kid in a wheelchair, a teenage boy and a teenage girl standing by a coffee machine and a bunch of Autobots with wings relaxing by a screen, which was showing news coverage of an aerial show that was happening. Quietly, Katie began walking over to the coffee machine, hoping to get herself a cup and then just relax for a bit. But no such luck. As she was pouring the coffee she heard a voice.

"Hey, you look new," it piped. "What's your name?"

"Um, Katie," she turned and saw that the voice belonged to the kid in the wheelchair. The other two were looking at her too; the boy was smiling but the girl was scowling viciously.

"Hi, I'm Chip," Chip replied. "I'm Wheeljack's assistant; I help him in the labs and stuff. This is Spike, he helps to repair cars, and that's Carly, she's a scientist." Spike grinned and Carly nodded smugly.

"What do you do?" Spike asked.

"I…well I hack computers," Katie leaned back and sipped her coffee. Chip and Spike's eyes widened and Carly's eyes narrowed.

"Are you the one the Decepticons are looking for so that they can access the oil field in Russia?" Chip breathed. Katie smiled a twisted smile.

"That's me."

"Are you staying on the _Ark_ for protection?" Spike asked.

"Actually," Katie glanced at Carly who was looking at her the way Astrotrain had looked at her during her time on the _Nemesis_. "It turns out I'm going to be living here seeing as the Decepticons have destroyed my apartment."

"That's so cool!" Chip and Spike gasped simultaneously.

"Wonderful," Carly growled.

"Do you have a guardian?" Chip asked. "If so, then who?"

"Bumblebee."

"Sweet!"

"Have you met the Decepticons yet?" Carly interrupted. "Seeing as you're so _useful _to their twisted cause?"

"Course I have," Katie scoffed. "In fact, I've already been forced to hack the oil field and create energon cubes for them." Carly turned scarlet.

"What was it like?" Spike asked, his eyes wide.

"It was fine, actually," Katie sipped her coffee again. "They just tied me up and took me to the _Nemesis. _Astrotrain was a dick, but I wasn't harmed at all. Soundwave is incredibly creepy though; he was watching me as I worked. In fact," she looked at Carly. "They were much nicer to me than _some _people are being now." Carly looked furious but Chip and Spike were watching Katie reverently.

"Wow, so the little human managed to get herself captured and then managed to escape. Nothing to brag about," a voice, which set Katie's teeth on edge, interrupted.

"Hi Slingshot," Carly smiled up at him. The Aerialbot smiled back and turned his attention back to Katie. She folded her arms and turned back to Spike and Chip.

"Did I mention that I even got to ride in one of the Decepticon jets?" she said clearly.

"No!" they both said at the same time, their eyes even wider than before.

"Which one?" Slingshot said sharply. Katie looked disdainfully up at him.

"Well like you said, it's nothing to brag about," she smirked.

"Which one?" Spike asked. "If you don't mind me asking?"

"Of course not," Katie smiled. "It was…" she clicked her fingers several times, pretending to not remember the name. "You know…F-15 Eagle. Air Commander. Second in Command of the Decepticons. Now what's his name?"

"Starscream?" Chip gasped.

"Oh yeah, Starscream," Katie answered.

"You mean to say," Slingshot squeaked. "That you_ rode _in_ Starscream_?!"

"Yeah," Katie twirled her hair around her finger and shrugged. "No big deal." Slingshot gaped at her for several minutes, along with Carly, Spike and Chip, before he fell to the ground in a dead faint. The rest of the Aerialbots squawked and began dragging him to the medical room.

"Was it really no big deal?" Spike asked as the humans walked (Chip wheeled) over to where the Aerialbots had previously been sitting.

"No," Katie admitted. "I just said that to wind him up. It was easily the most exhilarating and the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my life."

"How fast were you going?" Chip asked eagerly as they sat down.

"I have no idea," Katie folded her legs up beneath her. She was sitting in between Spike and Chip, with Carly on the outside, fuming. "Before we took off, Rumble and Frenzy tied me to the seat in Starscream's cockpit (no idea why they call it that seeing as it's such a dodgy name) so I couldn't mess with his flight controls and as a seatbelt; seeing as he's the fastest Seeker ever created I wasn't too keen on flying out of him. Next thing I know, he's started his engines (as have Thundercracker and Skywarp who were also there). I'd only heard them once, far away; when he flew away after Megatron killed Leonie the cat and the noise was chilling in a good way. But up close it was just…phenomenal. Words can't explain what it sounded like-"  
"How loud was it?" Carly interrupted.

"Loud enough to drown out _your _voice," Katie said breezily and Spike and Chip sniggered. "Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. When Megatron gave the orders to attack and everyone took off, the speed was incredible. After only ten seconds of being in the air, we had gone through the sound barrier and it turns out that that wasn't even half Starscream's top speed. Then when he did his dives and all his other manoeuvres while simultaneously gunning down Autobots…" Katie felt sick just remembering her experience in the Air Commander's cockpit. "Crap. Then the Autobots started shooting at Thundercracker and Skywarp, causing them to crash. For some crazy reason, Starscream then decided to crash-land on top of the Autobots. After that, black. Next thing I know, I'm waking up to see the Autobots staring at me and not a Decepticon in sight."

"Woah," Spike and Chip breathed once she had finished her story.

"Yep," Katie leant back and drained the rest of her coffee. She looked at the time on the screen and swore. "Shit! It's only half eight and I'm absolutely knackered."  
"Shame," Carly simpered and Katie threw her coffee cup at her in retaliation.

Two hours later, Katie staggered into her quarters and collapsed onto her bed. She had spent the time chatting with Spike and Chip (and ignoring Carly), arranging the stuff in her quarters and she had been given a tour of the _Ark _by Bumblebee. Dragging herself into bed, she pulled the covers over herself and shut her eyes. In just one day, she had encountered the Autobots and Decepticons, watched Leonie the cat get keilled, been kidnapped, been forced to hack into the oil field in Russia (something she had hoped she had never had to do again), had the scariest ride in her life, essentially moved house and been assigned a guardian. She smiled to herself before she was out like a light. Bumblebee slowly pushed the door open and looked at his sleeping ward. It had been a very long day for everyone. Closing the door and wandering to his own quarters to recharge, he thought about the events that had occurred. He shivered when he thought of the Decepticons' revenge which was going to be coming soon, because come on; these are the Decepticons we're talking about here. Bumblebee gritted his denta and vowed to himself that he would _not _let Katie be harmed in any way, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. **(A.N. Don't worry! Bumblebee's not going to die!)**

The following morning, Prowl and Teletraan 1 were monitoring the area when a reading came up that made him press the alarm button reserved for extreme emergencies. When all the Autobots had assembled in the computer room, Prowl turned to them, a grim expression on his faceplates.

"We've got guests."


	10. Chapter 10

Megatron stood outside the _Ark _with his lip curled. He looked over at his troops, some of whom were readying their weapons, others preparing themselves and the rest pacing restlessly. The most noticeable of these was Starscream. The Air Commander was striding up and down with his servos clasped behind his back, being watched nervously by Thundercracker and Skywarp. Megatron turned back to the entrance of the Autobots' headquarters. It was true that sometimes he hated his treacherous Second in Command and the only thing that kept him from snuffing his spark was the fact that Starscream was more dangerous to the Autobots than the Decepticons, but when he wasn't trying to stab Megatron in the back, Starscream was incredibly valuable. The cowardly move that Prime and the Autobots had pulled on the Command Trine had made all the Decepticons seek revenge, none more so that the Seekers themselves, including Megatron. At the moment, he was considering whether to send some Decepticons to grab the human again. She had been very useful in successfully making 1,356.79 energon cubes (according to Soundwave's calculations when Astrotrain and Blitzwing had returned the day before with the cubes crammed into their alt modes), however if they did kidnap her again, the Autobots would come rushing into save her again and that would mean more injured troops. Megatron weighed these options in his processor when Soundwave approached him.

"Attention Megatron."

"What is it, Soundwave?"

"Troops are becoming restless and have been detected by the Autobots."

"Slag!" Megatron cursed, for sure enough, there was the familiar figure of Prime leading his Autobots out of the _Ark_. "Decepticons, FIRE!" he bellowed. His troops obeyed and a steady jet of laser fire rained down on the Autobots, who transformed and returned it.

"Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust!" Megatron barked. "Transform and attack!" The Seekers rose into the air in perfect formation, transformed into their jet modes and dived down onto the Autobots bellow.

"Constructicons, Stunticons!" Megatron turned to the two gestalts. "Merge and form Devastator and Menasor!" His orders were quickly obeyed and the two giants collided with the two Autobot gestalts, who had merged into _their _forms of Superion and Defensor.

"Soundwave," Megatron turned to his Third, who was currently firing at Ironhide. "Eject Laserbeak and Frenzy and order them to attack. Afterwards," he lowered his vocals. "Eject Rumble and Ravage and get them to bring out the two human females that live in the _Ark._ They will be used as hostages and we can get the hacker to hack some other targets."  
"Orders: Understood," Soundwave's monotone answered. "Laserbeak, Frenzy, Rumble, Ravage: Eject."

Katei yawned and dragged herself out of bed. For a moment, she took in the unfamiliar surroundings in shock before she remembered the events of the day before; she had met the Autobots, been kidnapped by the Decepticons, been forced to hack an oil field, been involved in a plane crash and met Spike, Chip and (ugh) Carly. Brushing her hair, cleaning her teeth and pulling on some clothes, she pushed the door open and began wandering over to the rec. room, intending to get a cup of coffee and maybe talk to the boys some more. However, to her annoyance, Spike and Chip weren't there and instead, Carly was waiting at the coffee machine.

"Morning," she smirked.

"S'up?" Katie muttered, anxious to avoid another conversation with her.

"So," Carly followed her as she walked out the door. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Katie asked wearily. Carly's smirk grew wider.

"The Decepticons are attacking. They probably want you back."

"Unlikely," Katie leant against a wall and took a long drink of coffee.

"Really?" Carly simpered. "Because I thought, you know, with you being such a _great_ computer hacker, they'd want you back and you could maybe, oh I don't know, stay there?"

"Get real," Katie snarled. "I've already hacked the oil field and they have no other need for me so piss off!" She punched the other teenager in the face. Carly gasped and looked down at the blood pouring from her nose and into her hand. Her eyes narrowed and drew back her arm to slap Katie.

"Oh look, the females are having a little fight. Cute. Unfortunately for them, Megatron needs them both," a familiar voice interrupted. Carly squealed and Katie rolled her eyes.

"We're kind of busy here, Rumble!" she snapped. "Megatron can wait." Rumble took a step back and threw his hands up in surrender.

"Your funeral."

"Oh!" Carly screeched. "Just because you get kidnapped once, that means you're in charge of everything!"

"You're a bitch!" Katie retaliated. She turned to Rumble. "Tell her she's a bitch!" Rumble blinked in surprised and looked at Ravage for support. The panther merely inclined his head towards the two scowling females.

"Um…you're a bitch?"

"See!" Katie turned back to Carly. With a furious scream, Carly flung herself at Katie, knocking her to the floor, and began trying to punch, bite and scratch her. Katie snarled and kicked her in between her legs. She then forced herself on top of Carly and began to throttle her, while Carly tried to retaliate.

::Um, Soundwave?:: Rumble activated his comm. system while Ravage gave the fighting girls a perplexed look.

::Yes?::

::What condition do the females have to be in? Cos they're kinda trying to kill each other at the moment.:: There was a slight pause.

::Megatron says stop them and bring them to him.::

::Easier said than done.:: Rumble steeled himself and nodded at Ravage. The panther nodded back and pounced, grabbing Carly by the scruff of her polo neck. Rumble then pulled Katie away and clamped his arms around her while she screamed swear words and tried to kick him. Carly was struggling to pull her shirt out of Ravage's denta. The panther retaliated by shaking her. He nodded towards the exit and the two Deceptcions and their hostages snuck out, unnoticed by the Autobots who were preoccupied with fighting the Decepticons above them and trying to avoid being trampled on by Devastator, Menasor, Superion and Defensor.

Megatron looked down at the two females who had been thrown down at his feet, both looking a little worse for wear; Carly's nose was still bleeding and she had a black eye and Katie had a long scratch down her cheek. The latter looked up at him and waved. Perplexed, Megatron was about to look at Soundwave until he remembered that that was the way humans greeted each other. He slowly began to wave back before he realised what he was doing and pretended that he was flexing his wrist. He caught the amused optic of his Second in Command and knew that Starscream hadn't been fooled. He coughed hurriedly and turned back to the humans who were glaring at each other.

"We've already met," he addressed Katie. "But I don't believe that that's the case for you," he turned to Carly, who sat up indignantly.

"Well it should be!" she scowled. "Given that I am an accomplished scientist."

"Nobody cares!" Katie interrupted. Carly slapped her and Katie pounced on her and they began fighting again.

"ENOUGH!" Megatron yelled. "Anyway," he continued as Rumble and Frenzy separated the two humans. "You two are now our hostages. By the time the Autobots have noticed you are missing, we will be long gone." He smirked as he looked down at the Autobots, Constucticons and Stunticons fighting each other and Prime being hurriedly attended to by the medic. The Autobot leader had suffered serious injuries, courtesy of Starscream and his null rays.

"Now," he turned to the rest of the Decepticons. "We need to arrange who will be transporting the prisoners."

"Shotgun Starscream!" Katie shrieked and made a beeline for the Air Commander, who had just transformed.

"That's not fair!" Carly wailed as she was shoved towards Astrotain by Katie.

"Hang on, I am not something you can 'shotgun', whatever that is!" Starscream snapped at the same time. "That is…you're in my cockpit already aren't you?"

"Yep," Katie smirked.


	11. Chapter 11

The Autobots staggered back into the _Ark. _The battle with the Decepticons had been long and hard and the creeps had only retreated when Megatron had ordered them to. The wounded began making their way to the medical berth, some with the help of their friends. Bumblebee sighed and began walking over to the rec. room. Hopefully Katie, Spike, Chip and Carly would be there. As he pushed open the door, he saw the two boys but neither of the girls were anywhere to be seen. He walked over to where Spike and Chip were talking quickly to each other.

"Where are the girls?" Bumblebee asked brightly. Spike and Chip jumped and exchanged a look.

"Um, you may not like this Bumblebee," Spike muttered and motioned for him to follow them. The trio exited the rec. room and arrived at a nearby corridor. There was a torn piece of red fabric on the floor and…

"Holy frag," Bumblebee whispered. "Is that…_blood_?!"

Ratchet had to force Prime down when the news was broken to him.

"I'm fine Ratchet," the Autobot leader insisted. "But we have to stop the Decepticons. They probably want to use Katie to hack some more targets and they'll just use Carly as a hostage. We have to get them back!"

"You're not going anywhere!" the medic snapped. "Starscream's null rays have damaged your equilibrium circuits. You're not going anywhere. If what you said is true, then the Decepticons won't harm either Katie or Carly. Now stay down on that berth or I'll weld you to it!"

"There's also this," Chip presented the torn piece of fabric. "It looks like it's from the turtleneck that Carly was wearing today. It seems that Ravage may have torn it off."

"Those Decepticreeps must've snuck in while we were fightin', Prime," Ironhide growled. "You give the order and I'll storm the _Nemesis _with a squadron and get those human's back!"

"You're not going anywhere either!" Ratchet snapped before Prime could answer. "Some of your wiring is severed. Now will everyone _calm down_! The Decepticons never harm what they can use."

"I promised her I'd keep her safe," Bumblebee said miserably.

"Like with the last time, none of us could have foreseen this happening, Bumblebee," Ratchet reassured him. "Now I suggest that you lot go to the rec. room while I fix Prime and the others. Then, and only then, can we begin to make a plan."

"Faster!" Katie shrieked. "I wanna go past that bitch so fast, she won't know what's happened until she's got a sonic boom in her face!" Starscream sighed irritably.

"And what about Astrotrain?"

"Well he's a dickhead so he deserves it," Katie waved her hand dismissively and leant back in the seat. "Pleeeease?" she begged. She looked out of Starscream's cockpit to get a good look of what was happening. The Decepticons were flying at a steady pace over America, but Starscream was showing no sign of going at those phenomenal speeds he had shown he was capable of when they had attacked the Autobots yesterday. The Air Commander sighed again.

::Permission to speed up and do tricks, Lord Megatron?:: he asked over the comm. link. ::It's just the human keeps demanding that I do it.::

::Hmm, well we must keep her satisfied if she is to do what we want of her.:: Megatron answered. ::Permission granted Starscream.::

::My thanks, sir.:: Starscream stopped talking on the comm. system. He slowly powered his engines up in a low hum. Katie sat up straight.

"Does this mean…?" she said in excitement. Starscream sighed in exasperation but he too was delighted that Megatron had granted him permission.

"Megatron said yes," he said in a voice that betrayed no emotion. "Shall I go now?"

"Just do it already!" Katie practically screamed. Starscream sighed for the fourth time. His engine began to roar and he shot forwards at the same speed that Katie had experienced yesterday. As he neared Astrotrain and Carly, Starscream sped up and as he and Katie passed them, the sonic boom blew them backwards. Katie laughed in delight and flicked her middle finger up as she caught a look of Carly's face; it was scarlet with envy. Starscream laughed quietly as well and mentally decided not to betray Megatron this time if this was what he would get to do.

Bumblebee groaned and pushed his chair away from the monitor. Prowl looked up at him.

"Bumblebee, she'll be fine," he said, not unkindly. "The Decepticons won't harm her; she's too valuable. It's Carly who is possibly in danger as she's not worth much to them."

"I know Prowl," Bumblebee sighed. "It's just…I mean I promised…I just don't know what to do."

"Listen," Prowl walked over to him. "Katie's tough and from what I've heard from the Aerialbots she has some of the Decepticons wrapped round her little finger, as the humans say. Carly may be able to talk her way out of trouble but Megatron is volatile; he may not like what he hears. Plus they're both intelligent girls, they'll be able to find a way out or to contact us. I know the waiting is the worst part but we have to do it in order to keep them safe. If we try to storm the _Nemesis_,then we'll only succeed in sealing their fate."

"Wow," Carly breathed. "The _Nemesis_. It's just like I imagined." Astrotrain looked at her in a weird way, trying to think of a reason why she imagined the Decepticon base when her alliances lay with the Autobots.

"That's normal," Katie's sarcastic voice cut across his thoughts. "Because _everyone totally _imagines what the base of giant robots looks like." Rumble and Frenzy sniggered and Carly turned pink. She whirled with her fists clenched to face Katie, who was sitting in between Soundwave and his cassettes and Starscream and the Seekers. The other teenager merely raised her eyebrow.

"Touch me and you're dead," she threatened. Carly opened her mouth to retaliate but found that no words came out. She shut it again, looking livid.

_Hmm _Astrotrain thought. _Someone else who hates that human. Maybe if I can talk her into helping me eliminate her…_he raised his helm and looked at the three commanding officers. _But Soundwave and Starscream seem to approve of her and Megatron would have my spark if I killed her before she had fulfilled her usefulness. Frag. Her._

"Excellent work Decepticons," Megatron's voice suddenly sounded. Everyone turned to face their Leader, who was standing in the corner, staring at a screen. "We have successfully captured both human females from right under the Autobots' noses."

"Wow, déjà vu," Katie muttered. Megatron glared at her for a second before continuing.

"The Autobots have suffered serious injuries and it is highly unlikely that they will be coming back to the _Nemesis _any time soon, none more so than Prime. Starscream? I trust that you and your trine have had the revenge you craved?"

"Yes, Lord Megatron," Starscream inclined his head in thanks and Thundercracker and Skywarp's wings quivered slightly.

"Excellent," Megatron smirked. "Now," he turned his attention to the two humans. "We have obtained one hacker and one hostage. But the question remains; who shall be put in charge of them while they are here?" Carly opened her mouth to speak but once again, Katie beat her to it.

"I call dibs on Starscream," she smiled sweetly. The Air Commander blinked in surprise before composing himself. Megatron nodded once and turned to Carly. Before she could speak however, Frenzy spoke up.

"Lord Megatron? From some intelligence that we have just received…"

"We believe that the human would be best suited with Astrotrain," Rumble finished. Carly squeaked in outrage and turned to see Katie and the twins smirking. She started towards them.

"You little-"

"Agreed," Megatron cut her off. He waved his hand. "Dismissed."

"What?" Carly wailed. "Why do _I _get stuck with Astrotrain?!"

"Well _duh_," Katie pushed past her roughly as she followed the Command Trine out the room. "Because you're both absolute assholes who whinge all the time and I hate you both."


	12. Chapter 12

Starscream entered the code and pushed open the door to his quarters that he shared with his trine. The human scampered past him and swung herself onto his berth. She sat there, drumming her fingers on the cool metal and swung her legs backwards and forward as she looked around the room. Thundercracker and Skywarp strode in and settled themselves on their own berths.

"Screamer?" Skywarp began.

"What is it Skywarp?" Starscream asked irritably.

"How come the human's staying with us? Why not Soundwave or the Coneheads?"

"Because," the Air Commander sighed. "Megatron has put me in charge of her while she's on the _Nemesis_. That means she's got to stay with me, and to an extent you two as well, all the time apart from if Megatron wants her alone."

"Great," Skywarp complained. "Why are you pointing that at me?" he added as he looked over to where the human had flicked her index and middle finger up at him. She scowled at him.

"I believe that the humans do that, as well as putting their middle finger up, when they are annoyed with you," Thundercracker said absently. Katie smirked in agreement. Starscream rolled his optics and walked over to the desk that stood in the corner. Settling himself down in the seat, he picked up a data card and began scrolling through it. Thundercracker shuttered his optics and leant back to relax, whilst Skywarp watched the human, who was doing handstands on Starscream's berth, with his mouth slightly open.

"You know," the human said suddenly. "You lot have been a lot nicer to me than some of the Autobots, especially those Aerialbot wankers. What gives?" Skywarp and Thundercracker (who had opened his optics) looked at her, surprised.

"Really?" Thundercracker asked. "The Autobots are big on being nice to all humans."

"It's not surprising that the Aerialbots weren't nice, though," Starscream commented. "Those wannabe flyers are so arrogant I'm surprised that they can take off, given that they're so big headed."

"They admire us though," Skywarp said thoughtfully. "Do you remember when Soundwave sent Laserbeak into their quarters and all they were talking about was us?" Starscream smirked and Thundercracker closed his optics again.

"The Aerialbots are very naïve," he explained. "They think that they know everything about flying because they have managed to beat the Coneheads and the Triple Changers in a dogfight a couple of times. However, this makes them think that they're better than the rest of us, Autobot or Decepticon."

"Except us," Starscream added. "They look at us like we're Primus reincarnated. And their leader, Silverbolt I think he's called, can't control them and he dares to call himself an Air Commander!" Starscream's lip curled and Skywarp and Thundercracker sniggered.

"Do you remember when that idiot, Slingshot, told Soundwave that he was just a 'stupid grounder who knows nothing, only a bit about computers'?" Thundercracker cackled. Katie and Starscream began laughing.

"Soundwave was so annoyed," Starscream chuckled. "I've never seen him that angry."  
"What did he do?" Katie asked.

"He set all his cassettes on the Aerialbots," Thundercracker chortled. "They looked so surprised it was absolutely priceless. You could tell that they were shocked that a 'grounder' was able to beat the slag out of them."

"Those guys are total winners, as you humans say," Skywarp smirked. Everyone stopped laughing and looked at him.

"…total _losers_," Katie corrected. "Although you could also use twats, assholes, dickheads, fucktards, wankers, miserable little shits and pricks."

"You humans have a lot of insults," Thundercracker mused. "And you never seem afraid to use them. I've, um, looked up some of the video files that you show on your screens and they swear all the time."

"Because it's funny," Katie shrugged. "They, I mean we, swear in songs too. It expressed emotion, usually anger but it can be sadness too."

"Wow," Skywarp breathed. He turned to his trine mates. "I'm learning so much!" The others gave him a weird look before Megatron's voice sounded over the comm. system.

::Starscream, it's you and your trine's turn for patrols. If there are any Autobots in the area, then _do not engage_. Radio in immediately.::

::Yes, sir.:: Starscream replied. ::And if there are Aerialbots in the area?::

::Shoot them down.:: Megatron answered calmly.

::Understood. Will the human be coming with us?::

::I don't see why not. Although, if she is a problem then call in and return to base. She'll be dealt with when you return.::

::Yes Lord Megatron.:: Starscream turned to Thundercracker, Katie and Skywarp. The former were arguing with the latter about porn. Skywarp couldn't understand why people put porn on the internet, (frag that, he couldn't even understand what porn _was_) and Thundercracker and Katie were having to explain to him in agonizingly long detail. Starscream cleared his throats and the trio looked up at him.

"Megatron says that it's patrol time," he began. "And he says that the human can come with us. Also, if we see the Aerialbots then we can shoot them down, but if we see the Autobots, we can't engage and have to inform the _Nemesis_. Understood?" The three nodded. Skywarp unlocked the door and the trine, with Katie sitting in Starscream's hand, walked in the direction of the hangar. On the way, they passed Astrotrain and Carly. The two teenagers glared at each other and looked very much like they wanted to kill each other. Astrotrain also glared at Katie but Skywarp chose that moment to start asking about porn again. So he wouldn't embarrass himself further, Starscream and Thundercracker grabbed one arm each and dragged him to the hanger. When they arrived, Katie hopped down as the trine transformed into their jet modes and then climbed into Starscream's cockpit. The hanger rose, the door opened and the trine took off at a steady pace. The Atlantic Ocean glittered in the midday sun as the three jets flew over it in their typical triangle formation. Their patrol took half an hour, with no sign of the Autobots or Aerialbots. Katie lounged back in the seat and drummed her fingers on her leg before perking up with an idea. She rapped on the cockpit roof to get Starscream's attention.

"What?"

"Can we go to London?"

"…_what_?"

"I am incredibly bored and I expect that you are too. Plus in London you can see loads of different military jets that you get in America."

"Like what?" Starscream asked, curious despite himself. Thundercracker and Skywarp sped up so they were flying in a straight line.

"Oh, you know," Katie waved her hand. "Red Arrows, Spitfires, Hurricanes…"

"If Megatron says yes," Starscream reminded her. He turned on his comm. system. ::Starscream to Megatron.::

::What is it Starscream?::  
::Patrol completed. Any Autobot sightings, negative. The human wants to go to London. Can we have permission?:: There was a long pause on the other end.

::Permission granted,:: the reply finally came. ::But remain in your jet forms at all times.::

::Yes sir. We'll radio again when we leave.::  
::Understood. Megatron, out.:: The Seekers' engines roared as they changed their course and flew over to the Atlantic Ocean to the country where it always rains **(A.N. No exaggeration!)**

Katie walked to the airfield that was full of British military jets where she had left the Command Trine. She inhaled deeply and exhaled before shaking her wet hair out of her face; she had been caught in one of the famous April Showers…in May. Her shopping bags swung alongside her as she pushed open the gate and walked over to where the three F-15 Eagles were standing in amongst the Red Arrows. It was good to be home again, but now it was time to return to America. **(A.N. Just to clarify, Katie is British but moved to America when she was 10, right before she started hacking into computers, and she subsequently has a mixture of British and American accents)** As she ducked under the wing of a Spitfire, she saw a man in a suit frowning and looking at three planes. Katie groaned; she had a feeling that she knew which three planes they were. And sure enough, as the planes in question came into sight, she saw the familiar red white and blue, blue and orange and black and purple paint jobs. Slipping round the back of a Hurricane, she crept behind Skywarp.

"Subtle," she whispered sarcastically. "Really subtle."

"It's not our fault," he whispered back. "We were blending in until that guy came along. Do you think he's a porn star?" he gasped suddenly.

"What the fuck? No! He's not a porn star!" Katie rolled her eyes. Pulling a sticker out of one of her bags (it read 'I 3 London' but Skywarp didn't know that), she peeled the paper off the back and stuck it on the underside of Skywarp's wing. Doing the same to Thundercracker, who didn't seem to notice, she silently walked over to Starscream. The Decepticon Second in Command was standing impassively in front of the man with a suit who had started yelling about having these three unknown jets melted down and made to repair the Olympic Stadium which had been damaged by Luis Suarez biting bits of metal off the structure. **(A.N. Sorry, I had to. That was totally made up)** Katie sighed and placed her last 'I 3 London' sticker on Starscream's wing.

"What is that?" he hissed quietly.

"Little souvenir for you," Katie cackled. She slowly began inching her way around the wing in order to climb into the cockpit so that they could return to the _Nemesis _and leave the crazy man in a suit. Unfortunately, thanks to Murphy's Law of 'what can go wrong, will go wrong', the man in the suit spotted her.

"Hey you!" he yelled. "You shouldn't be in here! Security!"

"Shit!" Katie yelled and scrambled into the cockpit. "Go, go, go, go, go!" she screamed and the trine fired up their engines and shot into the air, causing a huge sonic boom to erupt over London. The people looked up in awe…and then went back to their daily business. As the jets flew back to the _Nemesis_, Katie leant back in the seat, panting but grinning.

"I love London."


	13. Chapter 13

The sun was dipping below the clouds, bathing the sky and the sea in an orange-yellow haze as the Command Trine approached the _Nemesis_. They were all exhausted and inside Starscream's cockpit, Katie was almost falling asleep in the chair. The three Seekers and the human had just been subject to a dogfight with the Aerialbots, which the Decepticons had won in the end, critically injuring Slingshot and sending him into stasis lock, blowing off Fireflight's wing, destroying Silverbolt's thrusters so badly he was unable to take flight or stay in the air and damaging the other two (whose names neither Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp or Katie knew or cared). But it had been at a cost; their energy levels were low, Skywarp had damaged his left wing by accidentally (on purpose) colliding with Fireflight and Katie had been subject to speeds that a human body has never been experience to as Starscream dodged the Autobots' fire. Finally, they approached where the _Nemesis _lay.

::Permission to enter the _Nemesis_?:: Starscream asked tiredly.

::STARSCREAM! WHERE THE FRAG HAVE YOU BEEN?:: Megatron's voice bellowed over the comm. systems, causing all three Seekers to wince at the volume.

::Forgive us sir,:: Starscream replied wearily. ::But we were attacked by the Aerialbots as we were returning from London.::

::…I see,:: Megatron's voice was calmer. ::What is their status?::

::One critically injured and in stasis lock, two flightless and two seriously damaged,:: Starscream answered, with a hint of pride.

::Excellent job,:: Megatron said briskly. ::I doubt they'll be troubling us for a while now. Permission granted.:: The entrance to the _Nemesis _rose out of the sea and the door opened. The Command Trine flew in and landed in the hangar where Megatron and Soundwave were waiting. Starscream's cockpit roof opened and Katie clambered out. She was green. The Seekers transformed and stood to attention.

"Get yourselves to the mess hall," Megatron said once he saw their exhausted features and Skywarp's injured wing. "And once you've done that, Skywarp, make an appointment with Hook." As he turned to go, he felt something tap his leg. Looking down, he saw the human (who was now a lighter shade of green but still looked very unwell) standing in front of him.

"What is it, human?"

"I'll get straight to the point. Some of the Autobots can be assholes and the _Ark _can be hell for a claustrophobic like me," she said smoothly. "When I can't stand it there, can I come back to the _Nemesis_?" Megatron was taken aback. The humans feared the Decepticons and trembled in their presence! And yet, this human was saying that she preferred them to some of the Autobots! He was so shocked, he said the first thing that came into his processor.

"Yes."

The trine and Katie walked (or staggered) into the mess hall. The only other Decepticons that were in there, were the Stunticons and Soundwave's cassettes. The Seekers took a cube of energon each from the machine where it was prepared for them and walked over to a table that was closest to the window. Katie ran ahead of them and hoisted herself up onto the table. Taking out one of her shopping bags, she took out a Costa mozzarella, basil and tomato Panini **(A.N. Sorry, those things are good!)**, that was fortunately still warm and sank her teeth into it. The trine sat down and began sipping (or in Skywarp's case, guzzling) their energon.

"I don't know about you," Katie said, breaking the silence. "But I am fucking knackered." Skywarp leant back in his seat and took another gulp of energon.

"Look at what those Aerialbots did to my wing," he whined. "It's gonna take Hook _ages _to fix this."

"Oh stop whining," Thundercracker rolled his optics. "Hook's fixed a lot worse. You're gonna be fine, 'Warp." Katie frowned at them.

"'Warp?"

"His nickname," Starscream explained. "Partly because it's part of his name and partly because he can teleport."

"Oh," Katie looked at them. "So what are your nicknames?"

"TC and Screamer," Skywarp said eagerly, forgetting about his damaged wing for a second."Those two are obvious; it's part of their names."

"Yeah, well," Thundercracker waved his servo absently. "They're just nicknames. We give them to the Autobots as well."

"Awesome," Katie finished her Panini and stifled a yawn. The trine put their empty energon cubes down and got up from the table.

"Here's the plan, we go back to our quarters so you can recharge," Starscream said as they walked out the mess hall. "While we take Skywarp to the medical bay to get his wing seen to."

"Ok," Katie stifled another yawn. When they arrived at the trine's quarters, Thundercracker entered the code and Katie walked in and lay on Starscream's berth. Curling up, like a cat, she shut her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.

"Huh," Skywarp said as Thundercracker shut the door again. "Out of all the humans we've been involved with, this one's definitely my favourite."

Katie yawned and woke up in a different place for the second time that week. For the first time, however, it was because water was being dripped on her face. Shaking her head, she looked up to see Rumble and Frenzy grinning down at her.

"Piss off!" she groaned and rolled over. The cassette brothers merely lifted her off the berth and turned her round to face them.

"What do you want?" she snapped. "And where's the trine?"

"In the medical bay," Frenzy answered. "They had to stay overnight because of Skywarp's wing."

"But that's not important," Rumble continued. "The thing is, after you went to recharge, Astrotrain annoyed us. Called us 'midgets', wasn't it bro?"

"Uh huh," Frenzy nodded. "So, we decided to use you to help us, because you also hate him, to play a little prank on him using these that we robbed from a human supply store." Katie's eyes widened and she gave an evil grin when she saw what was in the bag Frenzy was holding out.

The Autobots had picked up a Decepticon reading in Yellowstone National Park and now Optimus Prime was leading a team of Autobots to investigate. However, when they arrived, they found not Decepticons, but Carly and Katie hanging upside down from a tree with their hands tied behind their backs.

"What in Primus?" Wheeljack asked as the Autobots transformed and looked at the two humans.

"Miss Hacker here decided to have some fun with Rumble and Frenzy and landed us both in this mess!" Carly shrieked.

"It was just a harmless prank!" Katie snapped back. "Anyway, how the fuck was I to know that Astrodick has no sense of humour?!" Prowl groaned.

"I'm not going to ask," he muttered as he cut the humans down from the tree and Cliffjumper began untying them.

"Did the Decepticons hurt either of you?" Prime asked anxiously as the two teenagers stood up, rubbing their wrists.

"Nope," Katie shrugged. "They even took me to London. I had a great time. A much better time than I have with you lot," she added meaningfully.

"Oh, _you _had fun!" Carly shrieked. "You got to go off with Starscream and his trine while I got lumbered with Astrotrain!"

"So?" Katie snapped. Carly screamed and the two girls threw themselves at each other.

"Separate them," Prime said calmly as Ironhide and Jazz did just that. "Let's get back to base," he continued as the Autobots transformed, with Carly and Katie kept separate in Jazz and Ironhide. "And let's try to get there in one piece."


	14. Chapter 14

Bumblebee was waiting anxiously at the entrance to the _Ark _along with Powerglide, Gears, Trailbreaker, Beachcomber, Hound, Inferno, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Red Alert.

"Stop your pacing Bumblebee," Beachcomber said in his calm voice. "Everything's fine. There's nothing to worry about; the Decepticons won't harm your human."

"That's what everyone's saying!" Bumblebee moaned. "But what if they do?"

"They didn't this time, Bumblebee, so I doubt they will next time (if there is a next time)," Prime's voice brought them all to their senses. Behind him, the other Autobots who went on the patrol transformed and Bumblebee saw Carly getting out of Ironhide and _thank Primus_, Katie getting out of Jazz.

"Carly! Katie!" Bumblebee heard a cry behind him and saw Spike and Chip hurry to greet their friends.

"How was it?" Spike asked breathlessly.

"Did the Decepticons hurt you?" Chip asked at the same time.

"No," Carly's bottom lip trembled slightly. "But it was so scary. I got stuck with one of the highest ranking Decepticons and I was terrified that he was going to kill me at any second." Spike and Chip gasped and Bumblebee turned widened optics to his charge. _If those Decepticons have done anything to her…_

"Bullshit," Katie said breezily. "You didn't get stuck with one of the highest ranking Decepticons, you were with Astroknobhead and he can't kill to save his life, or so I'm told."

"By who?" Spike and Chip gasped while Carly narrowed her eyes.

"Starscream."

"_Starscream_?!"

"Uh huh. I get to spend my time on the _Nemesis _with the Command Trine now and I have a hell of a good time. They took me to London yesterday," Katie smiled as she saw Carly's look of pure fury.

"But they didn't hurt you?" Bumblebee asked anxiously. Katie smiled again and walked towards him, with Spike and Chip following her.

"Hell no. I had a great time. We even got involved with a dogfight with the Aerialbots, although that wasn't fun," Katie took her guardian's arm and walked inside the _Ark _with him, Spike and Chip. Carly was left outside, scowling. She punched a rock and instantly regretted it.

Bumblebee had to go and do monitor duty soon but not before Katie had recounted her time with the Decepticons. Spike and Chip's eyes grew wider with every word as she described how the trine had avoided the fire from the Aerialbots and performed manoeuvres no human pilot was capable of, whereas Bumblebee felt a growing sense of jealousy and guilt.

_I'll never be able to contend with Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp, _he thought miserably. _They've been giving her a much better time than I have. She even speaks of Megatron highly…and he's letting her go back to the _Nemesis _whenever she wants. Why can't I be like that…? _His thoughts were cut off as Prowl's voice sounded over the comm.

::Bumblebee, you've got monitor duty in 5 minutes,:: he reminded him.

::Yes Prowl,:: Bumblebee responded. At that moment, Katie finished telling her story to two open-mouthed boys.

"Well, I'm going to go unpack the stuff I got in London. Later boys," she stood up and picked up her shopping bags.

"I'll help," Bumblebee offered immediately. Katie smiled at him.

"You're so sweet," she said and walked out the door with Bumblebee following her. When they arrived at her quarters, she put the bags down on her bed and opened her wardrobe.

"Now let's see…" she mused as she took out a London 2012 Olympics Hoodie. "This goes with the tops on the right…"

"I'm sorry!" Bumblebee blurted out suddenly.

"For what?" Katie turned to him in amazement.

"For not being there to stop the Decepticons from kidnapping you. Twice. For not being able to spend time with you. For not being able to take you to places where you want to go. For not being able to live up to the Command Trine," Bumblebee hung his head.

"That's not your fault," Katie said soothingly. "Everyone's got a job to do, right? And the trine…well the trine are great, there's no denying that, but at the end of the day, you're my guardian and they're good to hang out with." She turned back to her unpacking and took out a statue of the British Lion and the American Eagle and their flags crossed behind them. Rummaging around, she found a poster of Uncle Sam and Britannia, again with the Eagle and the Lion. Pinning the poster up behind her bed and placing the statue on the table next to the bed, she stood back and admired the effect.

"What's that for?" Bumblebee asked.

"Oh, I'm British but I moved to America when I was 10," Katie replied. "This just reminds me where I'm from and where I am." She tossed him a pile of clothes (all London/Britain themed). "Can you put those in the drawers over there?" Bumblebee complied.

"How did you afford all this?" he asked. Katie smirked and pulled a gold bit of plastic out of her purse. She put on a posh accent.

"Daddy didn't cancel the credit card he gave me that goes into his account." They both laughed and continued unpacking. When they had finished, Bumblebee picked up a DVD that Katie had bought.

"What's _Mock the Week_?"

"I'll show you! It's hilarious," Katie slotted the DVD into the television that Ironhide had managed to retrieve from her apartment before it was destroyed. They spent the next several hours laughing as they watched the British comedians talk about a 'Black Hole Machine' and 'Daleks', a 'Stepladder/Sepp Blatter', 'Monsoon Poultry Hospital', the Olympics and comparing the poor host to the Megabus Man and a Penis Sausage. **(A.N. All this has genuinely happened on Mock the Week)**

"Bumblebee, you were meant to be on monitor duty at 8:00! It's now almost 11:00!" Prowl groaned. Bumblebee and his human stood in front of him, Optimus and Jazz. Bumblebee was hanging his head but the human was scowling at them.

"Sorry Prowl," the yellow mech said apologetically. "Sorry Prime, sorry Jazz. It won't happen again."

"It's ok Bumblebee," Prime said gently. Jazz nodded in agreement but Prowl wasn't going to let it go as easily.

"You can't just do what you want!" he began but was interrupted by the human.

"This is why I prefer being on the _Nemesis_!" she snapped. "There, the commanding officers let you do what you want, when you want!"

"Give me one time that's happened!"

"Megatron let me go to London!"

"Um…well, we're still better than those Decepticreeps!" Prowl retaliated lamely.

"Are you?" Katie turned her back on them. "Are you really?"

"That's enough," Prime said calmly. "Arguing won't get anyone anywhere. Now, Katie, if you want to go anywhere, just ask and I'll see what I can do."

"But Prime…!" Prowl started.

"My mind is made up," Prime said firmly. He turned back to Katie "I can't guarantee that it will be Bumblebee taking you but you will get to go out."

"Thank you," Katie said, glaring at Prowl.

"Now, do you want to go anywhere?" Prime asked before his Second in Command could interrupt again.

"I fancy going shopping," Katie shrugged.

"Very well," Prime turned on his comm. system. "Powerglide can take you."

Katie strode into the music shop and examined the new Madness album. Turning it over, she checked the price and saw that it wasn't too expensive. Picking it up, she carried it round with her as she had a look round to see if there were any other CDs that she liked. Instead, she found a familiar cassette player and picked it up.

"Subtle Soundwave," she whispered so only the Decepticon could hear. "Really subtle." A low growl came from the cassette player and she knew that Soundwave wasn't amused that she had recognised him so easily.

"But do me a favour and call the Command Trine over here?" Katie continued. "It's very tedious with the Autobots. Oh, and tell Rumble and Frenzy that they are complete assholes and they got me tied up and hanging upside down from a tree." Putting the Third in Command down, she walked over to the till to pay for her CD and could have sworn that she heard Soundwave give a low chuckle.

Kate walked out of the shops, whistling quietly and thinking to herself. She enjoyed being with the Autobots but much more interesting things happened when she was with the Decepticons. For example, she wouldn't be able to talk the Autobot Second in Command into taking her to London but she had managed to do it with the Decepticon Second. She had also managed it with Soundwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Rumble and Frenzy. Heck, she might even be able to talk Megatron into letting her do what she wanted whereas she wouldn't be able to do that with the Autobots, except possibly Bumblebee. As she turned the corner and walked along the pavement to where she had left Powerglide, she was surprised to hear his voice arguing with someone. Entering the alleyway, she saw a girl, a bit older than her, in a yellow dress and a weird necklace with her arms folded, talking to the Autobot.

"And you are…?" Katie announced her presence. The girl and Powerglide jumped.

"Oh, Katie," Powerglide stammered. "That was, um, quick."

"My name is Astoria Carlton-Ritz," the girl announced. Katie groaned.

_Great. A posh knob._

"I was just saying to Powerglide that he is totally mean in not letting me go flying," Astoria continued. "I mean, he is like, the fastest flying thing out there." She batted her eyelashes at the arrogant flier.

"Well," he tried, and failed, to sound modest. "I am the ace of the air, king of the skies and sultan of the stratosphere, you know."

"Witty," Katie remarked dryly. "And you're not the fastest flying thing out there. When you brought me over here, I felt as if years had passed before we arrived." Powerglide growled softly and Astoria rounded on Katie with her fists clenched.

"You're lying!" she hissed. "Nothing out there's faster than Powerglide. Name one thing that is. I bet you can't!"

"Starscream," Katie said immediately. "I've been flying in him three or four times now and he could own Powerglide's ass before you could even blink."

"You speak about the Decepticons very highly," Powerglide remarked.

"Well, they've been much more decent to me than most of the Autobots!" Katie yelled. Powerglide turned his back on her.

"C'mon, Astoria," he said loudly. "I'll take you flying. You'll have to find some other way of getting back to the _Ark_," he added to Katie.

"I'm not going back to the _Ark_," she retaliated. "Tell Prime I'll be on the _Nemesis _because you lot are all complete assholes!" Hearing a familiar roar of jet engines, she squinted up and smiled.

_Thank you Soundwave_. Powerglide looked up too and gasped.

"The Decepticon jets," he breathed before turning back to Katie. "And how exactly are you going to get to the _Nemesis_? It's underwater, for Primus' sake!" Katie smirked at him and pointed upwards. Powerglide took a step back.

"No way…you wouldn't…" he hissed.

"Wouldn't I?" Katie threw back her head. "SCREAMER!" she shrieked. Powerglide let out a small scream and pushed Astoria behind him.

"What have you done?" he gasped. Katie folded her arms as the Command Trine landed in between her and Powerglide.

"Hey, look!" Skywarp said happily. "An Autobot!" Thundercracker cracked his fists and Starscream folded his arms and smirked.

"You'll never take me alive, 'Cons!" Powerglide yelled and transformed. Astoria clambered into him and shot Katie a look of terror before Powerglide took off.

"What an asshole," Katie muttered.

"He's a bit of a dice," Skywarp agreed. "See! I've been learning some more human insults!" There was an awkward silence.

"I think you mean 'he's a bit of a dick'," Katie corrected.

"I told you that wasn't right!" Thundercracker turned to his trine mate. Starscream shook his head and turned to Katie.

"I'm presuming that you want to return to the _Nemesis_?"

"Are you kidding?! The _Ark _is boring as fuck and the Autobots are all moody shits, except Bumblebee and Jazz. Things are much more fun on the _Nemesis_."

"Just don't go off with Rumble and Frenzy again," Thundercracker reminded her as the trine transformed. "Astrotrain wasn't amused when he found all those sex toys in his quarters."

"Pretty damn funny though, wasn't it TC?" Katie protested as she climbed into Starscream's cockpit.

"When we get back, can you teach me some more insults?" Skywarp asked.

"Sure, 'Warp,"

"And some more about porn?"

"…no."


	15. Chapter 15

Katie decided that before she went back to the _Nemesis_, she wanted to do some more shopping so she left the Command Trine in an airfield nearby where they were fortunately more disguised than they were in the one in London. As she wandered around the shops, she noticed that one girl in particular (who looked about the same age as her) kept looking round nervously as if someone was about to jump out at her. Katie took no notice until she also realised that she recognised the girl; her name was Simone and she was also a computer hacker. The two had never really crossed paths before but they had encountered one another at one of the annual hacker meetings. Katie had always thought that Simone had never had the guts to become a serious hacker and Simone had confirmed her thoughts when she talked about her hacker career. The only things she had hacked were shops and salons and changed their prices to ridiculous amounts so that they would go bust, whereas Katie was hacking NASA, the Pentagon and, of course, the oil field in Russia. Watching her now, Katie saw that Simone was as nervous and as unsure as ever. Shaking her head, she looked at the price of a top in the window of the shop; $98.97.

_What the fuck…? _A sudden scream jolted her attention and everyone else's attention to Simone. The amateur hacker had been grabbed by two men in suits and sunglasses who had pulled up alongside her in a limo. Katie turned back to the top and rolled her eyes.

_Probably just her bodyguards _she mused as she considered the price again. Simone had always seemed like the 'rich girl' type, which probably explained why she was so crap at hacking. A sudden roar of jet engines made her look up and scowl. Taking out her phone, she typed in a few commands which linked her to the Command Trine's comm. links.

"I thought I told you to stay in the airfield!" she hissed into it.

::But that was _boring_,:: Skywarp complained. ::This is much more exciting! In the airfield the other planes didn't even talk!::

::'Warp, I've told you before; human planes don't talk!:: Thundercracker groaned.

::Plus you don't understand how boring it is for Seekers to just stand there doing nothing,:: Starscream added. ::We have to stretch our wings or we get cramp.::  
"Fine!" Katie relented. "But you've gotta come back when I tell you to!"

::Touchy, touchy.:: the Air Commander scolded.

"Whatever," Katie rolled her eyes and put her phone away. Looking up, she saw the three Seekers shooting higher up into the atmosphere and disappearing into the clouds.

Back on the _Ark_, Powerglide had to inform Optimus Prime of Katie's decision to go back to the _Nemesis_. Fair to say, the Autobot leader wasn't impressed.

"Powerglide, we have to encourage her to spend time with the Autobots instead of the Decepticons, not drive her away!" he snapped.

"But Prime," Powerglide protested. "I didn't do anything! She chose to go back, I didn't force her to!" Bumblebee (who was also in the room) groaned as a sudden realisation dawned on him.

"You didn't by any chance tell her that you were the fastest flying thing in the world?"

"I might have. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Powerglide, she's been flying in Starscream several times," Prime ran a rand over his faceplates. "The comparison in itself would have drawn her back to the Decepticons."

"Oh," Powerglide shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Shall I go look for her?" he offered lamely.

"I don't think that there's any point," Prime turned to Teletraan 1. "She's probably having the time of her life with Megatron and the Decepticons." _I had never thought that I'd ever experience a human who preferred being with the Decepticons than the Autobots _he thought bitterly.

Katie, however, was not having the time of her life. It seemed that the men in the suits and sunglasses were targeting hackers or teenage girls because they were now heading after her. She had tried to get a call through to the Command Trine but the Men in fucking Black had somehow managed to affect it with a 20 minute jamming frequency. Dodging around people, she darted into an alleyway, she hid in the shadows, panting quietly. She thought that the men would run past but oh no. The jamming frequency also had to be a fucking tracker didn't it? Within minutes, they were on top of her, trying to wrestle her to the ground and tie her wrists. Fortunately for her, she had recently spent a lot of time writhing away from things (namely Astrotrain when he discovered that Katie, Rumble and Frenzy had planted sex toys all over his quarters) so they were unable to. However, the dickheads wouldn't give up and one of them took a syringe filled with clear liquid out of his pocket and pressed it into her exposed shoulder. Almost immediately she began to feel dizzy; the clear liquid was obviously some sort of tranquiliser. She kicked out weakly as the men lowered her to the floor and tuned her onto her back.

"Hush now," one of them whispered in her ear. "Just go to sleep and everything will be all right." He began to tie her wrists behind her back.

"Fuck off assholes," Katie said thickly; already her eyelids were beginning to droop. _Fuck, this stuff's strong _she though weakly.

"Now, now," the other one was tying her feet together. "There's no need to be-argh! Jim! Help me!" Jim looked up to see his companion dangling from Starscream's servo.

"Tut, tut humans," he gave a sinister smile. "Haven't you been taught not to take things that don't belong to you?" Jim turned grey and took a step back, only to walk straight into Thundercracker and Skywarp.

"C-c-c'mon," he stammered. "We're just doing our job! Let us off the hook!" The three Decepticons stared unforgivingly at the two humans. Katie had let the drug overcome her and was now sleeping silently. Skywarp picked her up (more gently than he would have done to Jim and his friend) and looked at his trine leader.

"Unfortunately for you," Starscream said silkily. "We are not in a forgiving mood." Closing his servo, he crushed Jim's friend as Jim himself was stepped on by Thundercracker. The three Seekers transformed (Skywarp put Katie in Starscream's cockpit before transforming himself) and took off for the _Nemesis_.

"You know," Skywarp mused as they flew over New York City. "It's the Autobots who usually save the humans, not us."

"You have a point, 'Warp," Thundercracker mused.

"It's only because she's useful to the Decepticon cause, nothing else," Starscream said breezily.

"Is it just that," Skywarp asked. "Or is it something more?"

**A.N. Just to let everyone know, we won't be seeing any more of Simone; she was just a random character in this chapter. She may be mentioned in later chapters but won't actually appear**


	16. Chapter 16

**A.N. Sorry for not updating for ages but I've had exams and also the Red vs Blue part of my fanfiction brain took over. The same thing happened when I was writing some of the earlier chapters of this story; I got so carried away with it, I was beginning to neglect my RvB fanfics. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!**

As the tranquiliser wore off, Katie slowly began to regain consciousness. When she was fully awake, she opened her eyes and noticed that she was in an unfamiliar part of the _Nemesis_. Judging by the fact she was laying on a berth, she concluded that she was in the medical bay. Sitting up, she looked around for any signs of life, preferably the Command Trine but either Soundwave and his cassettes or Megatron wouldn't be unwelcome. At that moment, a purple and green mech walked up to her and checked the machine she was hooked up to. When he spoke, it was slowly, which gave the impression of a cold and calculating personality.

"It appears that your vitals all check out. You may go. There is someone waiting for you." Thinking back to a conversation with the Command Trine, Katie remembered that his name was Hook. She thanked him and hopped off the bench. Walking through the doors that led out of the medical bay, she expected to see the Command Trine, but instead was greeted by the sight of Astrotrain.

"_Shit_!" she hissed and darted around his servo which had reached forwards to crush her. Sprinting down the corridor, she rounded several corners and surprised a bunch of mechs who looked after her in curiosity. Their looks soon cleared up when they saw Astrotrain striding after her. The sex toy prank had become almost famous across the _Nemesis_. Katie finally reached a huge set off double doors and paused, panting. She could still hear Astrotrain's footsteps echoing down the corridor and looked frantically for a hiding place. Suddenly, with a jolt, she realised that she recognised where she was; it was the entrance to the computer room. Running up to the doors, she waited impatiently for them to open and darted inside. There was almost complete silence except for the whirring of the computers. To her relief, she saw Soundwave in the corner, studying a monitor. She ran over to him and hoisted herself onto the bit of metal that jutted out next to the screen.

"Hey Soundwave," she said by way of greeting.

"Greetings," his monotone answered. "Query: Why are you not in the medical bay?"

"Oh I woke up and Hook let me go. Unfortunately, Astrodick was waiting for me so I had to scarper." Soundwave felt a flicker of amusement at her nickname for the Triple Changer.

"Where's the Command Trine?" she continued.

"Patrol," Soundwave said briefly.

"Cool," Katie twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. "Say, can I do some computery things? Just to pass the time…and earn Megatron's approval so he can protect me when Astroknob catches up with me?" Soundwave felt the flicker of amusement again and also the realisation that this human seriously preferred being with the Decepticons than the Autobots. He also knew (even though she didn't) that it was because of this and other reasons, she had already earned Megatron's, Starscream's and his trine's and his own approval.

"Affirmative," he pointed her towards a smaller monitor. "Orders: Scan area for Autobots and report in if sightings are affirmative."

"Sure," Katie shrugged and typed some commands into the computer. About 45 Earth minutes had passed before she spotted some Cybertronian life signals. Zooming in, in the hopes that it was the Command Trine (she really wanted to see them beat the shit out of Astrotrain), she hissed through her teeth and typed in several commands in order to open a comm. link.

Bumblebee was driving along quietly with the rest of the team of Autobots who Prime had selected to go and retrieve Katie when his comm. system cracked into life. The voice on the other end, however, was not that of an Autobot or a Decepticon.

::Bumblebee, go home.:: Katie hissed.

::What?:: he was surprised. On the other end, Katie bit her lip and looked over at Soundwave. Fortunately, the Third in Command was in deep concentration.

::I said, go home.:: she repeated. ::I don't want you to get hurt.::

::Why would I get hurt?:: Bumblebee was clearly puzzled.

::I'm on monitor duty in the _Nemesis_,:: Katie muttered. ::I've been ordered to report any Autobot sightings, and I _want _to. All of you lot, except you, Prime, Spike and Chip, have been total assholes to me!::

::Katie, I…:: His charge broke in.

::Look, I know you lot are probably coming to get me back, but I don't want to come back!:: she said bitterly. ::I love the _Nemesis _and everyone on it. I have more enemies in the Autobots than the Decepticons!:: Bumblebee's spark sank, heavy with guilt.

::Katie, I-I can't go. Prime's orders. I'm sorry, I never meant for the others to…:: Katie cut him off again.

::Fine,:: she said sadly. ::But on your own head be it.::

Katie sighed and turned to Soundwave.

"Autobot patrol approaching the _Nemesis_," she said briskly. "A dozen on the ground and the Aerialbots are with them. Seems they've been repaired." Soundwave's helm jerked up and he looked at her curiously, as if assessing why she was reporting the Autobots, before he pressed an alarm and relayed the information across the _Nemesis_. Within a matter of Cybertronian seconds, the computer room was filled with mechs and Megatron strode to the front.

"Decepticons, it appears that the Autobots are intending to attack us!" he barked. "But we will strike back and send them back to the _Ark _with their tailpipes between their legs!" Katie snickered quietly when she heard the human saying being converted by the Decepticons. Megatron barked out some more orders before dismissing the troops so they could prepare themselves to fight. He then ordered Soundwave to send a call through to the Command Trine with the orders to divert to the battlefield. Soundwave nodded and complied. As he was doing so, Megatron strode over to where Katie was watching the monitor with an emotionless face.

"Your intel had proved valuable, human," he addressed her. "On behalf of the Decepticons, I thank you." The human nodded once.

"My pleasure, sir," she said coolly. "Those guys are dickheads anyway. This'll show them that I can choose where I want to be," she added, more to herself than to Megatron.

"Do you wish to take part in the battle?" Megatron asked.

"If it's all the same with you, I'd rather sit this one out," Katie replied. Megatron nodded and walked over to Soundwave.

"Command Trine, en route," the Communications Officer announced.

"Excellent," Megatron said softly. "I see that Starscream's loyalty is still remaining towards me. Very well Soundwave, dismissed. Oh, and leave Ravage and Laserbeak to keep the human company. Given the last time, I don't trust her with Rumble and Frenzy."


	17. Chapter 17

Katie leant back in the seat and drummed her fingers on the desk that the computer was standing on. She sighed in exasperation and looked over at Laserbeak and Ravage. They stared back in silence, neither of them moving. Katie was just thinking to herself that she couldn't take much more of this boredom, when the doors opened and Rumble and Frenzy walked in. They weren't needed in the battle so Soundwave had sent them back to the _Nemesis_.

"Well if it isn't our favourite human," Frenzy grinned at her.

"I'm flattered," Katie replied dryly.

"_Someone's_ in a bad mood," Rumble commented as they walked over and stood either side of her.

"This is fucking boring!" Katie snapped. "Would _you _be in a good mood?" The cassettes exchanged a look before smiling evilly.

"Well if you're so bored, then why don't we, ahem, have some fun?" Frenzy cackled. Katie slowly turned round and looked at him.

"What the fuck? No! The last time I had 'fun' with you two, it got me hanging upside down from a tree with nothing but a whiny bitch to keep me company!"

"Oh nothing like _that_," Rumble soothed. "More like…an outing you could say."

"No." Katie folded her arms.

"Ravage and Laserbeak could come too," Frenzy persisted.

"No."

"You humans really are stubborn sometimes," Rumble mused.

"So?" Katie shrugged. The two brothers exchanged a look before each grabbing one of her arms and hauling her to her feet.

"What the fuck?!" she shrieked. "Fuck off!" The two ignored her and dragged her out the room, Ravage and Laserbeak following.

"So, where are you thinking, bro?" Rumble asked over Katie's head.

"I think we should let the human decide," Frenzy replied.

"Fuck you!"

"I don't think the human wants to choose," Rumble said mildly.

"I'm right here, you assholes!"

"Oh good," Frenzy beamed. "Then you can choose where we're going."

By the time it took Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage and Laserbeak to drag Katie to the ground bridge control room and enter some coordinates, they had all been subject to every bit of profanity that America, Britain, France, Spain and Germany had to offer.

"Who knew that the humans had so many swear words in so many languages?" Rumble muttered to his brother.

"I know. It's great!" Frenzy grinned. Grabbing Katie's arms, the two brothers pulled her though the ground bridge, followed by Ravage and Laserbeak. When they emerged on the other side, the first thing that greeted their eyes was the huge structure in front of them. Even the Decepticons had to admit that it was pretty impressive. Katie was in the middle of swearing at them in German before she suddenly stopped talking.

"That's more like it," Frenzy smirked.

"No, you dumbass!" Katie snapped. "I stopped because we're in Berlin! The fucking capital of Germany!"

"So what's that?" Rumble asked pointing towards the structure.

"That's the Brandenburg Gate," Katie replied. "Around here, there should be the Victory column, the Reichstag and the remains of the Berlin Wall."

"How d'you know all this?" Frenzy demanded. Katie shrugged.

"High School German and Geography."

"…Right," Rumble said slowly. At that moment, a couple walked by with a huge Rottweiler. The dog snarled at the four robots and the human. Ravage considered it for a moment before snarling back, showing his sharp denta that could rip through a man's torso as easily as a human could rip paper.

"Oh my word!" the woman said in an incredibly posh voice, causing Katie to groan and Rumble and Frenzy to snicker. "Darling, whatever is that horrible creature?"

"Your face," Katie said automatically. Rumble and Frenzy burst out laughing, Laserbeak and Ravage regarded her curiously and the posh woman turned a very interesting shade of puce.

"Impertinent child!" she snapped. The Rottweiler growled again and stepped towards them.

"Fuck. I think we'd better run," Katie said mildly and the five instantly scarpered.

"Ugh!" the posh woman turned to her husband. "What disgraceful manners. And such language coming out of the mouth of a young woman!"

"That's nice, dear," the husband said absently. "Er, what happened?"

"Sightseeing in Berlin with four robots," Katie mused as the five sat on a wall on a hill that overlooked the city. "Never though that'd happen. Where are we going next?" Frenzy looked at the map that he had stolen from a tourist.

"Uh, how about…?"

"Autobots!" Rumble yelled, leaping off the wall backwards. The others looked at him strangely.

"There's no such monument called 'Autobots' and we haven't seen a tribute to them here," Frenzy pointed out. "Anyway, bro, why would you want to see anything to do with those slaggers anyway?"

"Shit!" Katie yelled, pointing at several familiar vehicles navigating the streets. "The wankers must have followed us here!" Frenzy started and looked down.

"Frag!" he swore. "Let's get out of here!" The five leapt down from the wall and ran down the hill, away from the Autobots. A tour guide was showing some people a statue that stood near the fountain on top of the hill.

"Und das ist…" he was saying when the five ran past him. "Bitteshön! Nicht rennen!"

"Wir sind!" Katie yelled over her shoulder. "Du kanst nicht halten uns!" As they rounded a corner, they had to come to a halt; Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were standing in front of them with their arms folded.

"Fuck," Katie muttered. Rumble and Frenzy raised their weapons, standing either side of her protectively (they knew that if they let her go back to the Autobots, Megatron, Starscream and his trine and Soundwave would murder them…plus they actually liked the human). Laserbeak hovered above her and Ravage slunk round her ankles, snarling. For a moment, Katie had a reminder of Leonie the cat doing the same thing with Kate.

"Well, we've found our human," Sideswipe turned to his brother.

"Yes we have and four Decepticreeps with her," Sunstreaker agreed.

"_Your _human?!" Katie snapped. The twins ignored her.

"I think we'd better comm. Prime, don't you?" Sideswipe said mildly.

"I'm way ahead of you," Sunstreaker smirked. "Hey!" he yelled as a well placed shot from Laserbeak destroyed his comm. system.

"I'll do it!" Sideswipe rolled his optics.

"There's no need for that," Prime's voice boomed behind them. "I'm already here."

"We should have just stayed on the _Nemesis_," Frenzy said bitterly.

"Yes you should have," Sideswipe smirked.

"Nobody asked for your opinion, jackass," Katie snapped, typing furiously on her phone. Pressing a button, she looked up in satisfaction as the Autobots yelped in pain and collapsed one by one.

"What the frag was that?" Rumble demanded.

"An Electro Magnetic Pulse," Katie shrugged like it was no big deal. "It's not hard to do, but it only lasts a second. C'mon, we've got to get the fuck out of here before they recover!"

"How do you know how to do an EMP?" Frenzy asked as they turned and legged it. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Have you forgotten that I'm a computer hacker?"

"Oh yeah…"

::Rumble calling Soundwave,:: Rumble activated his comm. system. ::Requesting ground bridge immediately; we've got the Autobots on our tail.::

::Affirmative,:: Soundwave said after a slight pause. ::Sending coordinates now.:: As the Autobots (who had transformed into their vehicle modes) had almost caught up to them, the ground bridge opened and the four Decepticons and Katie hurtled through it. When they reached the other side, they looked up to see Megatron and Soundwave looking unimpressed (at least, they thought that Soundwave was unimpressed; it's hard to tell with his face mask and visor).

"Hey Soundwave," Rumble and Frenzy said, sounding ashamed. Laserbeak and Ravage hung their heads.

"This is awkward," Katie muttered. For a long time, the Leader and Third in Command watched them in silence before Megatron spoke.

"Well, seeing as you left with the human and returned with the human and also managed to scramble some of the Autobots' circuits, you won't be punished."

"Orders: Never use the ground bridge again without clearance," Soundwave said coolly.

"Yes sir," Rumble, Frenzy and Katie mumbled and Laserbeak and Ravage nodded.

"We didn't go very far," Frenzy added.

"Oh, we know exactly where you five went," Megatron said dryly. "Give that Ravage has 'Ich liebe Deutschland' spray painted on his chassis."


	18. Chapter 18

Weeks passed and still Katie didn't return to the _Ark._ Bumblebee sighed as he transformed at the edge of the cliff. He'd completed his patrol but Prime was letting him have a break. He sighed again before noticing something on his motion tracker. Slowly turning around with his gun at the ready and pointing at the forest behind him. The wind howled around him as he waited for whoever it was (Autobot, human or Decepticon). There was a rustling and a figure in a black leather jacket, long trousers and a leash clenched in their hand walked out, their hair blowing about in the wind. When they caught sight of Bumblebee, they froze and slowly began walking towards him. He followed suit and when they were close enough, he saw who it was.

"Katie!"

"Bumblebee?" the human frowned and looked over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Bumblebee could barely keep the glee out of his voice. Katie sighed and held the leash up.

"Walking Ravage," she replied. "Unfortunately, he's run off and Soundwave will murder me if I lose him." Bumblebee hung his head before frowning and looking at her jacket.

"That seems new. Where did you get it?" he asked, dreading the answer. Katie smiled and admired it.

"I got it when I went to Rome," she replied. "It fits perfectly, and it wasn't too expensive."

"Which Decepticon did you go with?" Bumblebee asked bitterly.

"Uh," Katie shuffled her feet awkwardly. "He's a commanding officer?" she tried.

"Starscream?" Bumblebee guessed. Katie sighed.

"No. Fuck it, I'll just tell you. You're not going to like this, but it was, uh, Megatron."

"_Megatron_?!" Bumblebee's optics widened. "You went to Rome with _Megatron_?"

"That's why the jacket wasn't very expensive," Katie shrugged. Bumblebee was about to say more before a sound of squawking and snarling reached their ears and audio receptors.

"Shit!" Katie cursed. "He's gone for the gulls again!" Turning on her heel, she ran in the direction of the noise. Bumblebee hesitated for a moment before following her.

When he eventually caught up with her, the sight that met his eyes was not one he thought he'd ever see. Ravage was curling up to Katie like a domestic cat, rubbing against her and _purring _while she tickled under his chin and scratched behind his audio receptors. Maximising his own audio receptors, he managed to listen to what they were saying without the Decepticon detecting and attacking him.

"…can't keep going for gulls," Katie was gently scolding him. "It takes forever to get the feathers out of your denta. What's that? You want your tummy tickled. Aww, why the hell not?" Bumblebee's optics widened as he saw Ravage rolling over and Katie rubbing his tummy, like the humans do to their own pets.

"What the-?" Bumblebee began before the sound of engines cut him off, made Ravage growl and made Katie look up with a frown on her face. It developed into a full blown scowl when the Autobots transformed and looked down at her and the Decepticon. Ravage revealed all his denta in a vicious snarl as Jazz stepped closer to Katie and grinned down at her.

"Nice to see you again, sweetspark," he said in his usual cheerful manner.

"Don't call me that," Katie said frostily. She stood up and turned to the panther who was still snarling beside her.

"Come on Ravage, we're leaving," she said coolly and turned to go before Cliffjumper leapt in front of her, blocking her route.

"Oh you've _got _to be fucking kidding me!" she growled, her lip curled up in a snarl like Ravage's.

"Sorry," Ironhide said gruffly. "But Prime ordered us to bring you back to the _Ark _if we ever encountered you." The human gave a scream of rage as she was forced into Prowl's alt-mode by Cliffjumper and Brawn. Ravage snarled again and launched himself at the two smaller Autobots. Sinking his claws into Brawn's back, he then proceeded to sink his teeth into Cliffjumper's arm. The mech swore and shook the Decepticon off his arm and Brawn picked him up by his neck and threw him into the woods. Bumblebee dodged the panther's flailing chassis and joined the others. The rest of them transformed and set off for the _Ark_. Before he transformed, however, Bumblebee sent an apologetic look towards his charge and was rewarded with the middle finger. Once they had departed, Ravage picked himself up, shook his body and walked back out into the clearing. Seeing that there was no sign of either the Autobots or Katie, his head drooped and his tail hid in between his legs. Not that any of the Decepticons would actually admit it, but they had grown quite fond of the human.

Bumblebee paused outside Katie's quarters with his servo raised, preparing to knock on the door. When they had brought her to the _Ark _a couple of hours ago, she had been going ballistic, screaming swear words at them and promising all types of horrible fates for all of them (except Bumblebee, instead she merely ignored him). Bringing her into the control room was no easy task and her mood seemed to match the weather outside. When they had eventually managed to get her before Prime, they were almost as exhausted as they were after a particularly gruelling battle with the Decepticons.

"Welcome back to the _Ark_," Prime had begun before Katie interrupted him.

"Welcome back?! Ha! Some welcome! I never even wanted to come back given that the majority of you are total assholes and never let me do anything!" her British accent was becoming clearer and clearer the angrier she got.

"Well we hope that that will all change," Prime said gently, unfazed by her anger and resentment. "I apologise profusely for any Autobot's behaviour that counts as being an 'asshole'." Somehow this seemed to calm Katie down a bit but she was still seething about being taken away from the Decepticons. Prime talked to her for a bit longer before telling her that she could rest in her room until she felt like coming out. She had slammed the door behind her and hadn't emerged since. Bumblebee swallowed hard and timidly knocked on the door.

"Piss off!" an angry voice snapped.

"It's Bumblebee," he muttered. There were several shuffles before the door slowly opened. Katie glared at him with her arms folded.

"Uh, can I come in?" Bumblebee asked nervously. Katie gave an exasperated sigh.

"Fine!" she snapped and allowed him in. Shutting the door behind him, the two stood in silence with just the sound of the wind howling outside.

"What do you want Bumblebee?" she asked eventually, her voice weary.

"I, uh," Bumblebee fumbled over his words. "I just wanted to say that I missed you and it's, uh, nice to have you back on the _Ark_." Katie raised her eyebrow.

"It's not like I asked to come back," she said. "But I'm here now, so I might as well make the most of it."

Katie silently slipped into the rec. room. She had promised Bumblebee that she would stay on the _Ark _for a bit longer before she went back to the _Nemesis_. However, she was already missing the Decepticons; Soundwave's orderliness, having to explain everything to Skywarp, messing about and pissing off Astrotrain with Rumble and Frenzy, fussing over Ravage, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, riding in Starscream, having her conversations with Thundercracker and discussing Earth history (specifically the brutal parts) with Megatron, who had taken a vested interest in it when she had compared some of the Autobots (and Astrotrain) to the Borgias. Her scowl increased when she saw who was standing by the coffee machine. Carly was talking to Spike and Chip when she looked up to see Katie quickly pouring herself a cup of coffee and then preparing to retreat back to the peace and quiet of her room. Carly's eyes narrowed and she stalked over to the computer hacker.

"I see that you're back," she sneered, her lip curling. Katie gave an exaggerated sigh and turned to face her.

"And I'm _so_ pleased to see _your_ ugly mug again," she replied coldly.

"And where have _you _been these past few weeks?" Carly demanded.

"Oh you know," Katie shrugged and grinned at Spike and Chip. "On the _Nemesis_, taking the occasional sightseeing trip, shit like that."

"Where did you go?" Spike asked politely. Katie shrugged again.

"Berlin, London," she ticked the places off on her fingers. "Moscow, New York, Paris, Rome and Madrid." Chip's eyes grew wide.

"Oh wow! Did you see the Brandenburg Gate, the Collosseum and the Monument to the Conquerors of Space?" he asked excitedly.

"Yep, and more."

"Which?" Spike asked.

"Let's see…there was the Reichstag, the remains of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, the Victory Column, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Dungeons, the Statue of Peter the Great, the Solovetsky Stone, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Leaning Tower of Piza, the Circus Maximus, the Arch of Titus, the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Teatro Real and the Golden Triangle of Art," Katie said, smiling slightly. Spike and Chip's eyes were wide (as they usually were when Katie told her storied of her time with the Decepticons) and Carly had a massive scowl on her face.

"Please tell us all about it!" Chip breathed. Katie shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" she looked over at Carly with a smirk on her face and repeated what she said to Bumblebee earlier. "Seeing as I'm going to be staying here for some time before I go back to the Decepticons, I might as well make the most of it."


	19. Chapter 19

**A.N. Sorry that this chapter has taken a bit longer to upload than the others but there's been lots of revision for the exams (that finished on Monday, thank god) and also writing my latest story Teams and Families get All Shook up (it's a crossover between this fanfic and one of my Red vs Blue fanfics, Teams and Families). Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter; it takes place a couple of weeks later. In that time, Katie has been forced to enrol in Carly's school, she and Bumblebee have been to Mount Rushmore to have some 'bonding time' and whenever the Autobots have gone out to fight the Decepticons, Katie is forced to stay in the **_**Ark **_**lest she return to them.**

The girls were all gathered in the foyer of the school, tittering and comparing the texts on their phones from their current, soon-to-be and soon-to-be-ex boyfriends. In the midst of them all, Carly stood in the middle of her circle of friends, smiling and making comments, and on the outside of the circle, looking like she was only there under orders (which she was), stood Katie, her face contorted into a ferocious scowl. She moodily kicked a coke can that was lying near her foot. It hit a pillar and ricocheted off, hitting a nerd on the back of the head. Carly pushed past her friends and shook her finger patronisingly at Katie.

"Tsk, tsk," she scolded. "That's not very nice now, is it?" Her friends all sniggered and pointed at Katie.

"Go and suck a dick," Katie replied calmly. "You fucking whore."

"How mature," Carly said coolly as the teacher ushered them all out of the foyer, onto the buses for the biology trip to the zoo that they were all going on.

"I don't like you," Katie said bluntly as she walked away from Carly and flung herself into an empty seat that was on its own. Putting her feet across the other seat, so that nobody could sit next to her, she plugged her headphones in and put a song on. When Carly passed her seat, Katie raised her middle finger without even looking at her. The doors to the coach closed and the engines started. As the coach pulled away from the school, Katie looked out the window at the hated building and her eyes narrowed. She would have hugely preferred to be with the Decepticons and she made a mental note to have a massive go at Optimus Prime for having her enrolled here in the first place.

Once the coach had exited the school, a black shadow jumped down from the trees that surrounded the school grounds. Ravage's optics narrowed as he activated his motion trackers to locate where the coach was heading. When the process was complete, he leapt over the fence and landed on the path. He began to run after the coach and the human. When the Decepticons had discovered what had happened with the Autobots, they were a bit annoyed to say the least. Well, all except Astrotrain. Megatron had announced publicly that their concern was because the human was valuable to the Decepticon cause (which she was), but Ravage, the other cassettes, Soundwave, Starscream and his trine knew that that wasn't the whole case; Megatron (along with themselves) had actually grown quite fond of the human. Ever since, scouts had been sent out daily to try and spot and retrieve the human, but so far none of them had been successful. Ravage sent a message to Soundwave over their bond and the Communications Officer replied over the comm.

::Megatron's orders: Follow the human to her destination and then retrieve when the time is right. Troops to transport you to the _Nemesis _will be awaiting.:: Ravage growled to say he understood and, as he approached the coach, leapt on top of it and transformed.

The students climbed off the coach and stood in front of the teachers, pretending to listen as they rattled off what they had to look for. They finished with saying that the students could go round in whichever groups they wanted, but there had to be a minimum of four. Katie perked up at this, silently planning to sneak off on her own and 'get lost'. She could then contact either Bumblebee or the Decepticons to pick her up. However, any plan of escape was banished by Carly and three of her friends approaching her.

"Oh fuck no…"

"We've got our group," Carly said sweetly to the nearest teacher. He nodded and wrote their names down on his list.

"Be back by four," he said gruffly. Katie scowled as she dragged her feet after the three bitches she was now in a group with. As they entered the zoo, Ravage transformed on top of the coach and leapt down, not caring whether he landed on someone or not. Stalking past the remainder of the students and the teachers, he entered the zoo after Katie, Carly and the other two (who neither Ravage nor Katie knew the names of…not that they actually cared).

Carly and her two friends squealed in mock terror as the two male lions began play fighting with each other while Katie just rolled her eyes and looked around for ways to sneak off. Unfortunately, just as she spotted a gap in the crowd she could sneak through, Carly's hand fell on her shoulder and steered her away from the lion enclosure and towards the nearby café.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

"Temper, temper," Carly chided, a huge smirk on her face. "We can't have you running off, can we?" Katie swore and wrestled out of Carly's grasp as the two minions (as she had taken to calling them) tittered and nudged each other. Carly smirked again and put her hand on her hips and opened her mouth to say something…before her minions' titters turned into shrieks as they spotted something slinking towards them. Ravage raised his paw and swiped the two screeching humans out of the way. They hit the wall and lay very still.

"What _is _it?" Carly demanded, turning around with her eyebrows raised in exasperation. However, her face drained of all its colour when she saw the Decepticon standing behind her with his teeth bared, as Katie's face broke into a huge smile and she bent down and made a clicking sound with her tongue. Instantly, Ravage bounded over to her and began purring as she tickled between his ears and stroked his neck, talking him all the while.

"Aw, who's a good kitty? That's right, you are. Who's my favourite little robot panther who goes around decapitating perverted bosses, sneaking up on Autobots and pouncing on them? You are!" Ravage purred and rubbed his body against hers and bared his teeth at Carly.

"C'mon, let's go," Katie stood up again and turned away.

"Where?" Carly rasped. Katie smirked in a pretty good impression of the other teenager.

"The _Nemesis _dumbass, where else?" she strode up to her and drew her fist back. "Oh yeah, and you deserve this, bitch." Her fist punched forwards and hit Carly squarely in the face. She staggered back, clutching the lower part of her face as blood began to pour from her nose and mouth.

"Let's go Ravage," Katie said mildly and human and panther strolled away. Ravage led her into a nearby field where three very familiar figures were waiting.

"Hey, it's our favourite human!" Skywarp said happily.

"Missed you too 'Warp," Katie grinned and climbed into her usual place in Starscream's cockpit. Ravage transformed into his cassette form and landed in her lap. The Seekers' engines fired and they took off into the sky.

The Autobots arrived at the zoo and transformed. Carly had contacted them, her voice thick from the blood that was still pouring from her nose.

"What happened, Carly?" Prowl asked in concern. "Who did this to you?"

"Who do you think?" Carly scowled, before turning and spitting out some more blood that had welled up inside her mouth.

"Oh Primus," Bumblebee looked guiltily at Optimus Prime and Carly.

"What happened?" Prime asked gently. Carly recounted all that had happened up until the point when she had contacted the Autobots.

"Slag," Jazz said calmly. "Well at least we know where Katie is." As if to answer his question, the Command Trine swooped down on top of them, firing shots and dodging the Autobots' retaliation shots. The Autobots just had time to glimpse Katie's face in Starscream's cockpit before the Seekers took back off into the stratosphere again.

"Goddammit," Ratchet growled and some of the younger mechs exchanged gleeful glances upon hearing the human expression emerging from the cranky medic's mouth.

"Oh my Primus!" Slingshot shrieked and turned to the rest of his gestalt. "Did you see how Thundercracker performed that perfect 90º take off?! And how Skywarp barrel rolled over all our shots? And how Starscream led them with such speed and grace? You know," he added meaningfully. "Those guys are so much better than you grounders. No wonder the human prefers being with them." Bumblebee and Ironhide punched him.


	20. Chapter 20

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!" Katie howled, streaking out of the shop with about 6 girls on her tail.

_In hindsight,_ _perhaps calling them slags wasn't the best idea I've ever had_, she thought to herself as she pushed people out of her way, ignoring their angry yells. As she was passing an alleyway, a foot poked out and she tumbled into some bins.

"Ow," she groaned as the girls caught up to her and dragged her into the alleyway.

"Any last words?" their 'leader', an eighteen year old girl with dyed blonde hair, a crop top, a pierced belly and a skirt so short you could barely see it, sneered.

"Several actually," Katie mumbled into the ground. "One: why the fuck do you talk like you're from Essex?"

"Oh you're in for it now, bitch," the leader purred, pulling out a pocket knife. "Now which part of you should I cut first?" Her cronies laughed and shoved each other.

"I'm not done with my last words yet!" Katie protested, holding up a finger. "Two: have you ever heard of skirts or trousers? And three," she began scuttling away as the leader approached. "Um, er...SCREAMER!" she howled. "NEED SOME HELP HERE!"

"You're dead, bitch!" the leader pounced as an F-15 Eagle flew overhead and jettisoned something from its cockpit. Katie stared at the leader as the gun dropped into her lap. She quickly picked it up and aimed it at the pack around her. The leader looked at it for a minute before throwing back her head and cackling like a crone. The rest of the girls sniggered behind her.

"A toy gun?" she mimed wiping tears away from the corners of her eyes. "How badass of you!"

"Insolent humans!" Megatron's voice snarled from the gun in Katie's hands. "You will all be obliterated!" The girls stopped laughing and their looks of mirth were replaced by looks of terror as Katie pulled the trigger and a laser blast erupted from the barrel and incinerated the girl standing nearest to the leader. The girls all screamed and, darting Katie frightened looks, tore out of the courtyard. Katie sank down against the bin and gave a sigh of relief.

"Well I'm never doing _that_ again," she muttered as Megatron transformed.

"I should think not, human," he growled, bending down on one knee and glaring at her. The Anglo-American shuffled her feet nervously and twiddled her hair. Megatron felt a smile tugging at his lips at the irony of the fact that he, Lord Megatron of the mighty Decepticons, was prepared to protect a human.

Bumblebee sighed as he looked down at the photograph in his servo. It had been taken when he and Katie had gone to Mount Rushmore together. The teenager was leaning against the Autobot in his alt-mode of a VW beetle and was looking just to the side of the photographer, a half smile playing on her lips. She was wearing the leather jacket that Megatron had 'bought' for her, but she was wearing a Team GB t-shirt underneath and the jeans and boots that she had bought when none other than Optimus Prime himself had taken her out shopping. Maybe she was making a point that she was perfectly happy with both factions? Bumblebee sighed again and his fingertip gently traced the outline of Katie's curly brown hair as he stared into her sapphire blue eyes. She had only been gone five days and he was already missing her.

Katie, however, was nowhere near Mount Rushmore. Instead, she, Rumble, Frenzy and Ravage were fighting over the energon (or in Katie's case, popcorn) they had brought with them to London's West End. As the actors sang, danced and spoke their way through their parts of characters in the Lion King, Rumble tried to strangle Katie, she bashed him over the head in retaliation and Ravage sank his fangs into Frenzy's leg when the mech pulled him backwards by the tail. When the play had ended, Ravage and Katie teamed up against the cassette brothers and stole the rest of their energon. As a result, they were chased out of the theatre and all the way up the Shard. When the cassettes eventually caught them, Ravage had drunk all the energy anyway. Frenzy almost blew a fuse and the other three had to find different places in the Shard to hide and eventually make their way back to each other. Finally, they ended up in Hyde Park, fortunately all in one piece.

"Ravage does seem to like birds, doesn't he?" Rumble mused as the three of them watched the panther chase pigeons around the park from the bench they were sitting on.

"Yep," Katie leant back against Frenzy, ignoring his scowls. "Unfortunately the feathers are a pain in the ass to get out of his denta." Ravage pounced, but instead of catching a pigeon, as he intended, he found a grey squirrel giving him an extremely dirty look from between his forelegs.

"Oh crap," Katie cursed and hurried over to him. "No no, sweetie, you can't eat the squirrels," she soothed Ravage, who was glaring down at the creature he had caught. "They're full of diseases and neither Soundwave, nor Hook, nor Megatron, nor me for that matter, would be very pleased if you got infected." Ravage purred and rubbed his cheek against hers. From behind a tree, Mirage shimmered into existence. He moved his video rifle (a new invention of Wheeljack's) so it was pointing at the human and the Decepticons. Ravage had rolled over and Katie was tickling his tummy. The panther looked up at her with an expression of adoration that Mirage had only ever seen him give to Soundwave.

"Uh Prime, you're not going to like this..."


	21. Chapter 21-Bonus Chapter

**A.N. I watched 'The Insecticon Syndrome' the other day and it got me thinking what would happen if Katie was there? So I decided to write this bonus chapter. In terms of placing it in the other chapters, it takes place** **around chapters 17-18. Hope you enjoy!**

::So Soundwave, remind me why I'm hacking this computer again,:: Katie's voice sounded over the comm. for Soundwave and subsequently the Insecticons controlling him with Bombshell's cerebro shell, to hear.

"Megatron wishes to hack the defence computer at Iron Mountain," Soundwave replied in his monotone.

::Is that it? That'll be a piece of piss,:: Katie snorted and turned off the comm. She leant back in the seat in Starscream's cockpit.

"Who are these Insecticon pricks?" she asked the Air Commander.

"A trio of Decepticons who took the alt-mode of insects," Starscream replied. "But I don't trust them and neither does Megatron. Once they've outlived their usefulness they will be terminated."

"Good," Katie muttered, playing with a piece of her hair. "I swear that Shrapnel guy is a massive pervert. I caught him checking out my ass several times back on the Nemesis." Starscream gave a low chuckle before Megatron's voice sounded over the radio, ordering all Decepticons to attack.

"You might want to strap yourself in. It's show time."

"Right Autobots," Prime said as they travelled towards Iron Mountain where they had received reports of a Decepticon attack. "Remember, don't fire on the Insecticons or we'll all be destroyed."

"Optimus, do you think we'll get there in time?" Spike asked anxiously.

"I hope so Spike," Prime said softly. "I dread to think of the consequences if we don't."

As the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting, Spike climbed up a pile of rocks to avoid the laser fire and to get a better view. To his surprise, he saw a familiar figure sitting in front of him.

"Katie?"

"Spike?" Katie turned round and frowned at him.

"What are you doing here?" Spike asked, sitting beside her.

"Soundwave requested that I came," Katie replied, shrugging. "I think he wants me to help him hack the computer." Spike's face fell.

"Oh," he said dejectedly. "I thought that you were coming back to the Autobots." Katie smiled and stroked his cheek.

"Bless you," she said. "You know, I haven't technically joined the Decepticons, I just hang out with them and do the occasional thing for them. But," she added sternly. "I haven't joined the Autobots either. I won't lie, I prefer the Decepticons but I can tolerate certain Autobots, so I guess I'm a neutral."

"Oh, ok," Spike said sadly. "I just thought-" An explosion cut him off and Katie sprung to her feet, her fists clenched.

"Fucking hell Kickback!" she snarled. "Watch what you're doing or Megatron, Screamer and Soundwave will have your ass!" The Insecticon snorted in derision but didn't fire near them anymore.

"I hate that guy," Katie muttered as her bracelet began to flash. "That's my cue," she turned back to Spike and quickly kissed his cheek. "See ya," she darted off down the rocks and followed Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave into Iron Mountain. Spike followed her down and ran towards the Autobots as Bombshell fired two cerebro shells into Thundercracker and Skywarp and Shrapnel collapsed the mountain on top of the Autobots.

Katie cracked her fingers and she and Soundwave got to work. Once numbers and diagrams began appearing on the screen, Soundwave began storing the data in his memory banks.

"Excellent," Megatron breathed, turning to his Second in Command. "Soundwave and the human have cracked the code and now it's time _we_ cracked some Insecticon body shells." Starscream smirked as Megatron stepped outside.

"Hear me Decepticons! Soundwave and the human are gathering the data we came for! Which means the Insecticons are no longer of use to us. DESTROY THEM!" But instead of firing on the Insecticons, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw turned their weapons on their Commanding Officers!

"I think your _dear_ Decepticons would rather follow _my_ command!" Bombshell sneered. Starscream gasped as a sudden realisation struck him.

"He must have bugged our forces with cerebro shells!"

"Cerebro what now?" Katie looked up from the computer and frowned in Starscream's direction.

"Yeah!" Bombshell cackled. "Like _this_!" He fired two shells at Starscream and Megatron. The Air Commander gasped as the shell sunk into his processor, controlling his mind. The other shell flew towards Megatron but at the last minute, the leader grabbed the shell in his hand and turned towards Bombshell, a deadly gleam in his optics.

"_No one_," he growled. "Gets into _my_ cranial chamber!" He threw the shell to the ground and stamped on it, crushing it.

"Aargh!" Bombshell howled. "My shell! My precious shell!"

"And now I'm going to stomp _you_!" Megatron sneered, levelling his fusion cannon at the treacherous Insecticons.

"No Megatron!" Prime gasped. "Get away from him!" He flew forwards and tackled Megatron to the ground.

"Prime!" Megatron roared.

"Ah ha ha!" Shrapnel crowed. "What a treat! Even the Autobots fight to save us! Let's go help ourselves to the data that Soundwave and the human gathered." The Insecticons turned at the entrance to Iron Mountain.

"Slaves!" Bombshell yelled. "Blast away!"

"Yes...master...Insecticons..." the Command Trine said dreamily and turned to the Autobots and Megatron. The Insecticons cackled and entered Iron Mountain.

"Excellent work Soundwave," Kickback smirked. Katie paused in her work and turned to face the Insecticons.

"What?"

"Poor little human," Shrapnel bent down and stroked her hair, smirking as she writhed away in disgust. "Didn't you know?"

"I implanted Soundwave here with a cerebro shell at the Nova Power Plant," Bombshell crowed. "He, and now the other Decepticons, are now our loyal slaves."

"Even Megatron?" Katie snorted in derision. "Unlikely."

"Yes, unfortunately Megatron wasn't implanted but no matter," Kickback mused. "We have his Third in Command and his Second in Command under our control."

"_What did you do to Starscream_?" Katie asked coldly, her British accent becoming more pronounced the angrier she got.

"Nothing my dear," Shrapnel leered at her. Katie glared at them and raised her middle finger.

"Well you jackasses can think again about me continuing to hack this for you," her American accent had completely disappeared.

"Well if you feel that way..." Bombshell exchanged a look with the other Insecticons and they slowly approached the human.

"Oh shit..."

"Well Megatron," Prime asked once he had explained the situation to the Decepticon. "Are you with us?"

"Anything to crush those robotic roaches," Megatron cracked his knuckles. Prime nodded and the Autobots and their temporary ally entered Iron Mountain.

"The data transfer is almost complete," they heard Soundwave say.

"Excellent," Shrapnel crowed. "And when it is, we'll be able to tap into the energy resources of the world!"

"A bold concept Insecti_clowns_," Megatron sneered as he and the Autobots burst into the room. "But your game is over!" He aimed his fusion canon at the surprised Insecticons and fired.

"No!" Spike yelled, following the others inside. "He'll set off the Nova Power explosion!" The Insecticons and Soundwave darted out of the way as the laser burst from the canon hit the wall behind them. From under the desk where the computer was sitting there came a muffled shriek and a curse.

"Argh!" Bombshell howled, grabbing his stomach. "My stomach! It burns!"

"Mine too," Shrapnel grimaced. "But this is no time for belly aching!" He raised his weapon and fired at Megatron, hitting him right in the chest and through the wall.

"Optimus!" Spike gasped, looking at his watch. "30 seconds and the Insecticons go off!" Prime nodded and ran to Megatron.

"Megatron," he shook him. "You've got to transform!"

"I'll transform you all!" Kickback snarled. "Into molecules of melted matter!" He fired, narrowly missing Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Hound. Megatron groaned and raised his hand. Slowly he transformed into his gun form and Prime slotted the first tube of antidote into Megatron's gun barrel. Swinging round he fired at Bombshell.

"Argh!" the Insecticon howled. "I'm shrinking!" And so he was. Kickback transformed and grabbed Soundwave by the leg.

"Let's get outta here with Soundwave!" he flew up in the air and kicked a hole in the roof.

"Not a chance Kickback!" Prime growled, firing Megatron again. Kickback shrieked as he and Soundwave tumbled down. The Communications Officer hit the floor with a clang and electricity sparked round his helm.

"Ow," he groaned. "My memory circuits: All erased." Shrapnel stared at the Autobots around him in horror before leaping into the air. Landing back down, he punched Wheeljack in the stomach and knocked Hound away. Spike dived under the table that had the computer on it to avoid the Autobot's flailing body. Backing up, he pressed against something warm and soft.

"_Nice of you to join me_," a muffled voice said sarcastically.

"Katie? Is that you?"

"_No, it's Santa. Get this fucking cloth out of my mouth_!"

"Sorry," Spike did as she asked and began cutting the ropes around her wrists with his pocket knife. "Are you ok?"

"Better than those Insecticons are going to be," Katie said darkly, sitting up and rubbing her wrists as Spike went to work on her ankles. "Can you believe that those fuckers tied me up and left me under here because I refused to hack the computer for them?!"

"Done!" Spike announced in relief and checked his watch. "Oh no! Only ten seconds until Shrapnel explodes!"

"What?! _Explodes_?!" Katie stared at him.

"I'll explain later," Spike grabbed her hand and pulled her out from underneath the table, just in time to see Shrapnel blast Prime and Megatron through the wall.

"Son of a bitch!" Katie cursed as she and Spike ran to where the antidote had been dropped.

"Get back Spike!" Jazz yelled. "He's gonna blow!"

"Don't say that!" Katie snapped, running over to Megatron and Prime as Spike began climbing Shrapnel's leg. He shoved the antidote into Shrapnel and rolled clear as the Nova Power lunch inside the Insecticon exploded. The Autobots, humans and Megatron turned and shielded themselves.

"The antidote worked...I think," Spike looked up from between Bumblebee's arms.

"But not for Shrapnel," Megatron growled, looking at the bits of the Insecticon. "I'm only sorry I didn't squash the stupid bug myself." Kickback helped Bombshell up as the other clasped his helm.

"I've lost my hold on the Decepticons!" he groaned as Soundwave sat up, the cerebro shell ejecting from his processor, and gave the two a look that would freeze over the Pit.

"We're not that easy to squash Megatron," Bombshell sneered, firing a shell from his rifle which exploded over the bits of Shrapnel, showering him with particles. "We Insecticons know how to _get it together_!" The gun whirred and the parts of Shrapnel suddenly rejoined and the Insecticon stood up. The Command Trine ran into the room.

"What's...going on?" Starscream said in confusion. "What...happened?" The cerebro shell fell out of his processor, as did the ones in Skywarp and Thundercracker.

"Megatron'll tell ya!" Kickback screeched as the Insecticons leapt on the Seekers and flew out of Iron Mountain.

"After the traitors!" Megatron roared, running over to the trine as they transformed slowly. "They defied me!"

"Blow those fuckers into oblivion!" Katie snarled, leaping into Starscream's cockpit as the Decepticons took off after their treacherous ex-allies.

"Was that Katie?" Bumblebee stared after them. Prime rested a hand on his shoulder as they stared at the specks in the sky. Bumblebee sighed.

"Gee, the Insecticons gave us a lot of trouble didn't they?" Spike chuckled. "But, they seemed to 'bug' Megatron even more!"


End file.
